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

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Joseph Mallord William Turner Waverley Abbey: The Ruins of the Cellarium c.1792

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Waverley Abbey: The Ruins of the Cellarium’ c.1792
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Waverley Abbey: The Ruins of the Cellarium c.1792
D00178
Turner Bequest XVII C
Pencil on white wove paper, 215 x 273 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘B’ on wall within drawing
Inscribed in red ink ‘XVII, C’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XVII C’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Although the ruins are largely masked by creeper, they seem to be those of the Cellarium of Waverley Abbey, near Farnham, Surrey, seen from the banks of the River Wey (looking north). A watercolour of the same ruin seen from the north is erroneously titled Glastonbury Abbey (private collection).1 The early twelfth-century Cistercian foundation at Waverley was the first house of its order in England. The structure, of Bargate ironstone and white limestone, is part of a large site on which most of the principal buildings including the Church have been completely destroyed. It is now managed by English Heritage.
1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.303 no.30, reproduced.
Verso:
Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Waverley Abbey: The Ruins of the Cellarium c.1792 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-waverley-abbey-the-ruins-of-the-cellarium-r1141328, accessed 24 November 2024.