Joseph Mallord William Turner

Lydford Castle and the adjacent St Petroc’s Church are seen to the north-east across Lydford Gorge. There are several views of the castle and church and likely views in the gorge in the contemporary Devon Rivers, No.1 sketchbook (see under Tate D09510; Turner Bequest CXXXII 28); one of the sketches there (Tate D09514; Turner Bequest CXXXII 32) shows a similar view from a little further west, with the church tower aligned in front of the castle and the hills beyond consequently further to the left.

A 1798 aquatint of a Distant View of Lidford Castle by William Gilpin (Westcountry Studies Library, Exeter) shows much the same view, emphasising the wildness of the setting.

Technical notes:

There is a faint, near-vertical, apparently offset line to the right of the castle. The page is now bound as the verso of the leaf, with the Turner Bequest stamp upside down compared to the general foliation.