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

Streatlam Castle, one of the Earl of Strathmore’s properties, stood in its park about three miles south-west of Raby Castle (see the second half of the present sketchbook, from folio 17 recto (D12298; CLVI 22a) onwards), and about the same distance north-east of Barnard Castle. It has since been demolished (for more on its history see the introduction to the tour).

The front of the house is seen from the south-east across Forthburn Beck. The culvert emerging under the road in the middle distance is still visible today, and the elaborate bridge where two silhouetted figures stand below the front of the house survives within the park, now maintained as a private estate with livery stables and cross country courses. The site of the house itself has been comprehensively levelled, with the main façade marked only by a line of bushes.

The bridge and trees are continued to the left on folio 3 verso opposite (D12313; Turner Bequest CLVI 30a), where there are also various annotated architectural details. There are further double-page drawings of Streatlam on folios 4 verso–5 recto and 5 verso–6 recto (D12315–D12317, D12264; CLVI 31a–32, 32a–3).

Technical notes:

The pencil number ‘31’ may obscure or reinforce John Ruskin’s customary red ink foliation, which is evident only faintly and intermittently in this much-rearranged book (see the introduction to the sketchbook).