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

As others have recognised,1 this drawing, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation and continuing on folio 27 recto opposite (D22371), is a source for Turner’s watercolour Coventry of about 1832 (British Museum, London),2 engraved in 1833 for the Picturesque Views in England and Wales (Tate impression: T06105), as is the similar view on folios 25 verso–26 recto (D22368, D22369).

Here the tower of St John the Baptist, Fleet Street, is seen on the right, with the spire of Christchurch beyond to the south-east. On the left is the spire of St Michael’s. Turner’s viewpoint down Hill Street is in the vicinity of the modern Ringway, which cuts across the street (the old toll road towards Birmingham) and later developments largely obstruct the prospect towards the churches.3 He noted ‘cattle’ at the bottom left, and they duly appeared at this point in the fields of the finished design, along with donkeys, sheep and a horse, in contrast to the isolated factory chimney recorded on the opposite page. There is slight sketch of a medieval building and a distant spire at the top centre.

For other Coventry views, see under folio 9 verso (D22336).