Joseph Mallord William Turner

The religious house at Crowland was founded by St Guthlac in the early seventh century; it flourished and became an important Benedictine community with splendid buildings which were added to throughout the Middle Ages; after the dissolution in 1539 part of the Abbey was demolished, and the structure suffered considerably during the siege of Crowland during the Civil War.

The ruins were greatly admired by Picturesque and antiquarian travellers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Another drawing of them is Tate D00362 (Turner Bequest XXII I). While he was in Crowland, Turner also made a drawing of the famous Triangular Bridge, in his Matlock sketchbook (Tate D00241; Turner Bequest XIX 31a).

Verso:

Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.