Joseph Mallord William Turner

Plympton Castle and St Maurice’s Church

1811

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Not on display

Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 117 × 75 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D08565
Turner Bequest CXXIII 103 a

Catalogue entry

Plympton Castle is seen on its mound to the south-east from Barbican Road, with the tower of St Maurice’s Church due east of it. The overall view is now obscured by trees, although each element can be observed in turn from neighbouring viewpoints. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), first President of the Royal Academy and one of Turner’s early heroes, attended the old Grammar School just beyond the church, where he was taught by his father;1 Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), a Royal Academy student in 1811 but already known to Turner (see the introduction to the 1811 tour), had also studied there,2 as did the history painter Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786–1846).3
There is a more distant view of the church and castle on folio 104 verso (D08561; CXXIII 101a). For views of nearby Plymouth, see under folio 3 verso (D08367).

Matthew Imms
June 2011

1
See Martin Postle, ‘Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723–1792)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed 24 June 2011, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23429.
2
See David Robertson, ‘Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock (1793–1865)’, ibid., accessed 24 June 2011, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8414.
3
See Robert Woof, ‘Haydon, Benjamin Robert (1786–1846)’ , ibid., accessed 24 June 2011, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12750.

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