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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales and Isle of Wight 1795-1800 > South Wales Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes’ 1795
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
First Flyleaf, Recto:
Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795
D40554
Pen and brown ink on white wove paper, 264 x 203 mm
Inscribed in a secretary hand in pen and brown ink with itinerary (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by Turner in pencil with further notes (see main catalogue entry)
Stamped in black ‘XXVI’ bottom right
The whole page is taken up with the following notes in pen and ink. Turner’s pencil annotations are indicated in italics:
          To Margam a Seat of Mr Talbot 3 Miles 
An Abbey Chapter House. The Church & Monuments – An Old Saxon Cross 
in the Village          part of the Chapter House fallen 
          To Aberavon 3 Miles.           since 1795 
View the Copper Works’                         Inn 
1 mile from To Neath by Breton Ferry 6 Miles Neath Castle   X 
Neath Abbey 
Very fine Views along the Shores. – See the Cascade at Melincourt 7 Miles 
up the Neath River return by the Turpike [sic] Road which leads from Neath 
to Brecknock. – 
          To Aberdyllis 2 ½ Miles from Neath 
Rocks & Water fall well worth attention – Neath Abbey. one mile 
in the road  To Swansea 9 Miles’ Mackworth Arms 
Nothing is Mentioned but the ruins of an Old Castle 
          To Morris Town 2 Miles above Swansea 
The Turnpike Rd. crosses the River Tawy over a very fine Bridge 
          To Pont Aberdules 10 Miles 
Here ends the County of Glamorgan. No Particular curiosity is mentioned 
          To Kidwelly 14 Miles.  
Ruin of a Castle worth notice and the Church 
Kidwelly to Larn Ferry 4 Miles 
Larn to     To Carmarthen 9 Miles} remains of a Castle 
Llanstephan To St Clear – 9 Miles} No mention is made of the Antiquities 
5 Miles along                         of either of these Places. Here 
the Shore     To Tenby 20 Miles Walls X White Lyon Inn 
before you visit Tenby view the Castles at Lanstephan & Laugharn (Larn)  
as it is calld. Llanstephan Castle stands at the entrance of the River Towy.  
at Tenby view the Cliffs, Caverns, Rocks, Islands &c. &c.  
          To Pembroke 10 Miles.’ Manorbeir Castle 
                                 2 Miles from Tenby 
Carew Castle, the Woods of Lawrenny form some of the Views exhibited on 
the Road – at Lantphey Village there is the Ruins of a Bishops Palace 
Pembroke Castle round Tower. Carew 2 Miles from Pembroke 
This itinerary of a South Welsh tour begins on the inside of the front cover opposite (D40553), and continues on the verso, concluding on the recto of the second flyleaf (D40555, D40556). Turner’s annotation, ‘part of the Chapter House fallen since 1795’, is evidence of his wish to ensure that the information he collected for future use in viewmaking was correct.
A drawing of ‘Neath Abbey’ Church is in the Smaller South Wales sketchbook (Tate D00477; Turner Bequest XXV 16). There is a drawing of the ‘Melincourt’ waterfall on folio 8 recto of the present book (D00560). Turner’s drawings at Aberdulais (sic) are on folios 9 recto, 10 recto, 11 recto and 12 recto (D00561–D00564); a finished watercolour of Aberdulais Mill is in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.1
‘Kidwelly’ Castle and Church are recorded on folios 16 recto and 18 recto of this book (D00568, D00570; Turner Bequest XXVI 16, 18); Laugharne (sic) Castle is on folio 20 recto (D00572; Turner Bequest XXVI 19). ‘Llanstephan’ Castle appears on folio 19 recto of this book (D00571; Turner Bequest XXVI 18), and a related watercolour study is Tate D00689 (Turner Bequest XXVIII D). Views at ‘Tenby’ are on folios 23 recto and 24 recto (D00575, D00576; Turner Bequest XXVI 22, 23). ‘Lantphey’ is Lamphey, on the south coast of Pembrokeshire.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.489 no.169a, reproduced.

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-inscriptions-by-turner-and-another-hand-a-welsh-itinerary-r1140876, accessed 20 April 2024.