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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner Lewes 1845

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Lewes’ 1845
Folio 4 Recto:
Lewes 1845
D35267
Turner Bequest CCCLIV 4
Pencil on white wove paper, 72 x 104 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘plough’ below right of centre
Inscribed in red ink ‘4’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLIV – 4’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This view of Lewes continues from folio 3 verso opposite (D35266); a single pencil line continues the profile of the South Downs from there. At both left and right appears a mound, which is likely to be that on which Lewes Castle stands, drawn from two different angles. On the right the dual towers of the castle can be seen jutting out from the mound. Flicks and dashes in front suggest the outline of a town and a tall tree in the centre. In the foreground to the right Turner has noted the word ‘plough’.

Amy Concannon
May 2025

How to cite

Amy Concannon, ‘Lewes 1845’, catalogue entry, May 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/lewes-r1214177, accessed 11 July 2026.