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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > North of England 1797-1801 > North of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Conisborough Castle from the North, with a Watermill in the Foreground 1797

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Conisborough Castle from the North, with a Watermill in the Foreground’ 1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 4 Recto:
Conisborough Castle from the North, with a Watermill in the Foreground 1797
D00909
Turner Bequest XXXIV 4
Pencil on white wove paper, 210 x 270 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘4’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XXXIV 4’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The circular keep of Conisborough Castle, built in the late twelfth century by Hameline Plantagenent, half-brother of Henry II, rises some ninety feet (28 metres) above the surrounding buildings. The river in this view is the Don, which flows to the north of the little town, between Rotherham and Doncaster. David Hill points out that the mill is attached to Walker’s iron foundry, where naval ordnance was cast. Walker had another foundry at Rotherham, which Turner also visited on this journey; a drawing of Rotherham Bridge is in the Tweed and Lakes sketchbook (Tate D01003; Turner Bequest XXXV 1). A loose sheet with a watercolour view of the interior of an iron forge with cannon is Tate D00873 (Turner Bequest XXXIII B), which, as Hill suggests, very possibly shows one or other of Walker’s foundries.
The subject is drawn with the page turned horizontally.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
January 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Conisborough Castle from the North, with a Watermill in the Foreground 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-conisborough-castle-from-the-north-with-a-watermill-in-the-r1150064, accessed 19 April 2024.