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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Scotland 1801-10 > Chester Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Beeston Castle from the West 1801

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Beeston Castle from the West’ 1801
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 60 Recto:
Beeston Castle from the West 1801
D05139
Turner Bequest LXXXII 60
Pencil on white wove paper, 161 x 256 mm
Blind–stamped bottom centre with Turner Bequest monogram
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘60’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXXXII – 60’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Beeston Crag is an isolated rocky outcrop in the middle of the north Cheshire plain. The castle on its summit was built in the early thirteenth century by Ranulph de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, and disused from the sixteenth century on except for a brief redeployment in the Civil War, after which it was partially demolished. The ruins remained of interest to topographers and tourists partly on account of their dramatic position.
This is one of several views of Beeston Castle in this sketchbook; see also the rectos of folios 61–69 (D05140–D05148). The fine view from the castle is recorded on folio 70 recto (D05149).
Verso:
Blank

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Beeston Castle from the West 1801 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-beeston-castle-from-the-west-r1178708, accessed 25 April 2024.