J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Severn Valley, Chester and Peak District ... > Worcester and Shrewsbury Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Bridgnorth across the River Severn from the East; ?Chester Cathedral ?1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Bridgnorth across the River Severn from the East; ?Chester Cathedral’ ?1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 81 Recto:
Bridgnorth across the River Severn from the East; ?Chester Cathedral ?1831
D22299
Turner Bequest CCXXXIX 80
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 191 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘80’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CCXXXIX – 80’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The main subject was identified as ‘Bridgenorth’ (sic) by A.J. Finberg (died 1939) and the watercolour and Turner scholar C.F. Bell (died 1966) in undated manuscript notes in copies of Finberg’s 1909 Inventory.1 The drawing, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, is continued across folio 80 verso opposite (D22298; Turner Bequest CCXXXIX 79a). On this page, Bridgnorth Castle and the tower of St Mary Magdalene’s Church are indicated above trees on the skyline; they are drawn very loosely compared with the other half of the sketch. There is a similar view from a little further north on folio 7 recto (D22161), under which the history of the bridge is described. For other views of Bridgnorth, see under folio 1 recto (D22151).
Towards the outer edge, drawn with the page turned vertically, is a slight urban view. The tower on the left appears to be that of Chester Cathedral, with its characteristic turret-like truncated pinnacles, but if so the viewpoint is as yet not established. For other views of Chester, see under folio 14 verso (D22176).

Matthew Imms
April 2014

1
A.J. Finberg, undated MS notes in a copy of Finberg 1909, Tate Britain Prints and Drawings Room, vol.II, p.736; C.F. Bell, undated MS notes in another copy at the same location, vol.II, p.736; confirmed by Ian Warrell in notes from 1993 and later in Tate catalogue files.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Bridgnorth across the River Severn from the East; ?Chester Cathedral ?1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-bridgnorth-across-the-river-severn-from-the-east-chester-r1148947, accessed 21 May 2025.