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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Castle or House on a Hill 1831

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Castle or House on a Hill’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 39 Recto:
Castle or House on a Hill 1831
D25837
Turner Bequest CCLXVI 39
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 187 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘39’ top right and ‘342’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXVI 39’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Although previously identified as Carlisle Castle, the structure of this castle or grand house on a hill does not match that of Carlisle, and neither does the topography of the surrounding landscape. It is yet to be identified. The sketch continues on folio 38 verso (D25836).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Castle or House on a Hill 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-castle-or-house-on-a-hill-r1134204, accessed 12 March 2026.