J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Buckfast Abbey from the River Dart, with Buckfastleigh Church Beyond 1814

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 25 Recto:
Buckfast Abbey from the River Dart, with Buckfastleigh Church Beyond 1814
D09842
Turner Bequest CXXXIV 46
Pencil on white wove paper with gilt edges, 179 x 254 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Roots’ bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘46’ bottom right (very faint)
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXXXIV – 46’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Samuel Berry’s Gothic mansion on the site of the original Buckfast Abbey is seen to the right from the west bank of the Dart, with the spire of Holy Trinity Church, Buckfastleigh on the hill to the south. The twentieth-century abbey church was subsequently built on the near side of the house; for the history of the site and Turner’s other views of it, see under folio 23 recto (D09855; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 57). There is a similar sketch on folio 26 recto (D09843; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 47), made a little away from the river bank. For further views around Buckfastleigh and Buckfast Abbey see under folio 22 recto (D09844; Turner Bequest CXXXIV 48).
Technical notes:
A significant loss to the lower left corner (not affecting the drawing) presumably occurred when pages of the sketchbook were disbound, and has since been made good.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
July 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Buckfast Abbey from the River Dart, with Buckfastleigh Church Beyond 1814 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-buckfast-abbey-from-the-river-dart-with-buckfastleigh-church-r1147381, accessed 28 March 2024.