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

Here Turner has rendered two views of Arundel Castle atop the motte, with the town of Arundel and the River Arun below (see Tate D18418; Turner Bequest CCX 63). A post mill processing grain can be seen at left in both drawings, situated on the banks of the river. By 1824, the Arun was connected by means of a series of canals to the Thames and London, providing a shorter route to and from city, the South Coast and the Continent beyond.1 River traffic is incorporated into Turner’s watercolour design Arundel Castle on the River Arun, with a Rainbow (Tate D18139; Turner Bequest CCVIII F) which shows a bargeman navigating his vessel south towards the English Channel. The present sketches are particularly associated with this design, produced as part of W.B. Cooke’s Rivers of England print series.2

For other sketches of Arundel Castle in this book see Tate D18419–D18461; Turner Bequest CCX 63–84a. See also Tate D22819–D22820, D22847–D22848, D22881–D22884, D22887, D22900–D22901, D22936, D23002–D23010; Turner Bequest CCXLV 21a–22, 38a–39, 60a–62, 63a, 70a–71, CCXLVI 22, 86a–91.