Bridgnorth: The Town from High Rock; High Rock from the Town; North Gate

?1831

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Worcester and Shrewsbury Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 114 x 191 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D22288
Turner Bequest CCXXXIX 74 a

Catalogue entry

Made with the page inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the main view is of Bridgnorth and the valley of the River Severn looking south-west from the eminence of High Rock (not ‘Higher Buxton’ as suggested by Finberg; for Buxton, Derbyshire, see under folio 56 recto; D22253), seen in the foreground on folio 76 recto opposite, where the drawing continues (D22289; Turner Bequest CCXXXIX 75). In the present half, the tower of St Leonard’s Church is seen above the river, silhouetted below the disk of the afternoon sun. There is a similar view on folio 77 recto (D22291; Turner Bequest CCXXXIX 76).

Towards the outer edge, with the page turned vertically, Turner has drawn the reciprocal view north-east from the town along the Severn to High Rock, as indicated in his inscriptions. At the bottom centre of the page in relation to the main drawing is an inverted view of Bridgnorth’s North Gate (as suggested by Ian Warrell),1 from the north, with a detail above looking through the central arch along the High Street to the half-timbered Old Town Hall. For other views of Bridgnorth, see under folio 1 recto (D22151).

Matthew Imms
April 2014

Ian Warrell, notes from 1993 and later in Tate catalogue files.

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