Joseph Mallord William Turner

This is a right-hand page from the sketchbook. In so far as its subjects are identified, Dorchester marks the most westerly point in Turner’s tour along the Thames as he recorded it in the book. His sketch is taken from the River Thame, a shallow tributary of the Thames reachable only this far by boat from the main river. A bridge would be built near this spot, 1811–13. Hill thinks the drawing unsatisfactory as a view of the church and remains of the Augustinian abbey, since these are positioned to the left, but observes that Turner would have had to ‘abandon the river’ to find better aspects.1

Verso:

Blank. Laid down.