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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, with the Road to Folkestone 1845

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, with the Road to Folkestone’ 1845
Folio 12 Verso:
Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, with the Road to Folkestone 1845
D35284
Turner Bequest CCCLIV 12a
Pencil on white wove paper, 72 x 111 mm
Turner’s elevated vantage point here affords a dramatic view. The complete profile of Shakespeare Cliff is sketched in at the left, its steep chalk face indicated by sweeps of Turner’s pencil. Below it lies the bay and, just right of centre, the dual bore of the Shakespeare Cliff tunnel can be seen. This tunnel, designed by William Cubitt (1785–1861), formed part of the coastal railway route between Folkestone and Dover, which opened in 1844. Compare a slight sketch from a similar viewpoint on a separate sheet (Tate D34161; Turner Bequest CCCXLI 427v).
The drawing continues onto folio 13 recto opposite (D35285), where Turner made a bote of the Folkestone road.

Amy Concannon
May 2025

How to cite

Amy Concannon, ‘Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, with the Road to Folkestone 1845’, catalogue entry, May 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/shakespeare-cliff-dover-with-the-road-to-folkestone-r1214194, accessed 11 July 2026.