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

Rather than just ‘a headland’ as Finberg suggests,1 this sketch clearly shows a man-made structure on a promontory or headland that descends into the sea at the left. The shape of the structures – step-like with two tower shapes in the middle – closely resembles the sketch on folio 9 verso (D13338; CLXV 9a) which has been identified as either the ruins of Dunbar Castle, or the fortifications on Bass Rock. Either is possible, although the height of the rock to the right on this sketch might be too high to be Dunbar, in which case Bass Rock, or else an unidentified coastal ruin, is more likely.