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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Midlands 1830 > Birmingham and Coventry Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Lichfield from the Racecourse on Whittington Heath; Lichfield Cathedral from the South-East 1830

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Lichfield from the Racecourse on Whittington Heath; Lichfield Cathedral from the South-East’ 1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 32 Recto:
Lichfield from the Racecourse on Whittington Heath; Lichfield Cathedral from the South-East 1830
D22381
Turner Bequest CCXL 32
Pencil on white wove paper, 68 x 110 mm
Partial watermark ‘[Prince of Wales feathers]’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?R...]’ towards top left and ‘Race Course’ towards top right below drawing, and ‘w’ bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CCXL – 68’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two sketches here. At the top is a distant view of Lichfield, Staffordshire, from the south-east, with the former racecourse beside the Tamworth road on Whittington Heath (now the site of a golf course and barracks).1 The three spires of Lichfield Cathedral are seen towards the top left. Across the centre is another view, showing the cathedral closer to the north-west from Borrowcop Hill off the Tamworth road, with the tower of St Mary’s Church in front (later rebuilt with a spire and now partly given over to Lichfield Heritage Centre).
For other views of Lichfield, see under folio 30 verso (D22378).
1
See ‘Whitttington Heath and Barracks’, Whittington History Society, accessed 8 July 2013, http://www.whittingtonhistorysociety.org.uk/heath.asp?a=5.
Technical notes:
This leaf is affected by the extensive pale brown, mottled staining which extends throughout this particular gathering (folios 31–42; D22379–D22402) and also folios 30 and 43 recto and verso (D22377, D22378, D22403, D22404), as discussed in the Technical notes to the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Matthew Imms
August 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Lichfield from the Racecourse on Whittington Heath; Lichfield Cathedral from the South-East 1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-lichfield-from-the-racecourse-on-whittington-heath-lichfield-r1148531, accessed 24 April 2024.