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

In the main view, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the main block of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, is shown from the north-west above the raised garden terrace. Above are architectural notes, which are only partly legible: ‘[?Gr ...] B[...] 4 Fluted Doric Pil [i.e. pilasters] at | the Front 4 Ion Col [i.e. Ionic columns] | [?in Central Block] to the [...] of W[...] | [?Bas ...]’. The view continues to the left on folio 44 recto (D22232).

At the bottom right, the other way up, is a detail of the north-west corner tower and open colonnade of the belvedere at the end of Chatsworth’s north wing, again seen looking south but from further east, with the screen with lodges and entrance archways loosely indicated to the right below. Also inverted relative to the main view is a slight drawing of cottages, trees and hills, perhaps made in the vicinity; there seems to be a two-letter word or abbreviation to the left of this latter sketch, but it is difficult to make out.

The renowned house stands in the Peak District, above the River Derwent about three miles east of Bakewell, and is the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire. It comprises a four-square Baroque house built from 1686 onwards on the site of an Elizabethan predecessor, with early nineteenth-century additions running north, and a large stable block detached to the east.1 There are other sketches on folios 18 verso, 44 recto opposite, 45 recto, 46 recto, 54 recto and 55 recto (D22182, D22232, D22233, D22235, D22249, D22251), and possibly folio 28 recto (D22200).