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

These sketches, rendered with the book turned upside down, show aspects of Orford, a town which lies on the River Ore and the North Sea coast. In the uppermost view Turner records Orford town with the twelfth-century Castle at centre and St Bartholomew’s Church at far right (see Tate D18304; Turner Bequest CCIX 86a). The view at rear is taken from a vantage point near or on the beach looking toward Orfordness and the lighthouse there (see Tate D18238
Turner Bequest CCIX 42).

This sketch and others (see Tate D18306–D18309; Turner Bequest CCIX 87a–89) are associated with the vignette watercolour of Orford Haven produced in around 1827 for the East Coast series (see general introduction) and the highly finished watercolour Orford, Suffolk of the same date intended for the England and Wales print publication project.1