Turner filled many sketchbooks with drawings and watercolours while travelling around Britain in the 1790s. He appears to have sought out industrial subjects like the two forges shown here. One is producing anchors that were used on ships fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars. The other drawing presents in detail the workings of a tilt forge: a waterwheel powers large tilt hammers which pound iron to make it malleable.
Gallery label, October 2022
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