- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Unknown Artist
- Title
-
- An Unidentified Country Church and Churchyard, Probably Ombersley in Worcestershire
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour and pen and ink on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 18.2 × 20.2 cm, 7 ⅛ × 8 in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Parish Church
-
- Collection
-
- Private Collection, Norfolk
- (I-E-18)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1448
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 172 as 'A Country Church and Churchyard'; '1796'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and April 2022
Provenance
Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911); by a settlement to his sister, Ida Johanna Hog Rogge, née Girtin (1834–1925), January 1880 as 'Church and Churchyard'; sold by her to J. Palser & Sons, 1901; bought from them by Sir Hickman Bacon (1855–1945); then by descent
Exhibition History
London, 1946, no.88; Arts Council, 1946, no.73; Boston, 1948, no.127; Dulwich, 2001, no.8 as ’A Country Church with Spire ... late 1790s?’
Bibliography
Davies, 1924, pl.59
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities
A Timber Framed House, near Hastings
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Private Collection
Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Exeter Cathedral, and St Mary Major
The Mellon Bank Collection, Pittsburgh
Stonehenge during a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection
Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ludlow Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Private Collection
Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Conwy Castle, Looking West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Duff House, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Bamburgh Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruins of the East End of St Andrews Cathedral
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Touchstones Rochdale
Colchester Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection
Buildwas Abbey
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The West Front of Brechin Cathedral, with the Round Tower
Private Collection
The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Conwy Castle: The Bakehouse Tower
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Tate, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine's Chapel on the Hill Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunstaffnage Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace, near Elgin
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunnottar Castle in a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of Croxden Abbey, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle, with Leicester's Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Battle Church, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Private Collection
The Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Private Collection
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Rustic Figures in a Landscape, with Pigs
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the East
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Cow Grazing near a Pond, with a Church Tower Beyond
Private Collection
Duff House, from the River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hastings: A Timber Framed House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection
A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection
Ely Cathedral, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Private Collection, Scotland
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection
The Landgate, Rye
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Landgate, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Strand Gate, Winchelsea
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The West Tower, All Saints' Church, Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester Castle, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Byland Abbey
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Timber Framed House, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South East
Private Collection
Kenilworth Castle: Seen from the South East
Private Collection
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Carlisle Cathedral, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection
St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
Private Collection
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pevensey Castle: View of the North and East Towers
Private Collection
The Ruins of the Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ypres Tower, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hastings: The View across the Beach to Castle Hill
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Battle Abbey Gatehouse, from the South West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Glasgow Cathedral, from the South West
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
The East End of Icklesham Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Glamis Castle (Macbeth's Castle)
Private Collection, Norfolk
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection
A Timber-Frame House with a Hill Beyond
Tate, London
A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Barn with a Figure, Cattle and Poultry
Courtauld Gallery, London
Malmesbury: The Market Cross
Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury
An Unidentified Country Church and Churchyard, Probably Ombersley in Worcestershire
Private Collection, Norfolk
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About this Work
All attempts to identify the subject of this work have failed, which is surprising given the idiosyncratic form of the church, with its Early English chancel dwarfing a fourteenth-century nave and a fine spire rounding off the composition. Without being able to identify the location, it is difficult to say whether Girtin worked from a drawing sketched on his travels or whether the work was copied from another source. The fact that the watercolour appears to date from around 1795–96, on stylistic grounds, limits the potential candidates for the former possibility to either a building immediately adjacent to London or one seen on the 1794 trip to the Midland counties that Girtin undertook with his earliest patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99). The octagonal form of the spire with its prominent series of lucarnes is characteristic of a group of churches in Northamptonshire that includes St John the Baptist, Harringworth. It is possible that Girtin sketched just such a building in 1794, though the often radical changes that medieval buildings were subjected to during the Victorian era mean that we may never identify the subject in this way. If we are to locate the church, it will in all probability be because of the discovery of a contemporary drawing that has been inscribed, and, given that Moore provided Girtin with the sources for numerous views of the nation’s medieval heritage, his sketches may provide the missing clue here. The fact that this work did not come from Moore’s collection, unlike the similar view of Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church (TG0317), does not preclude the possibility that one of his pencil outlines was used by Girtin, however. The artist used pencil copies of Moore’s sketches to create a number of watercolours for other early patrons, including three views of Valle Crucis Abbey (TG0204, TG0208 and TG0159), none of which were owned by the antiquarian, and this is what I suspect happened in this case too.
Shortly before this site was archived it was finally possible to identify the church in this strange and compelling work. Using Google Lens the church in Girtin's work was matched with an engraving dating from 1822 of St Andrews in Ombersley in Worcestershire. There are a number of differences in the fenestration and Girtin's view omits the row of dormers in the nave, but enough features match including the relationship between the chancel and nave, the position of the porch, and the distinctive form of the spire to be reasonably sure that Ombersley is the subject. It is not surprising that this has taken so long to ascertain since the church was demolished in 1816 and the only evidence of the appearance of the original church is a print after a drawing made by an amateur artist in 1815. It is clear that Girtin did not venture into this part of Worcestershire and that he based his watercolour on the work of another artist, presumably an amateur whose lack of command of perspective would account for the inaccurate position of the tower in Girtin's watercolour.
The late Eric Shanes has suggested that Girtin was in a ‘moralizing mood when he portrayed’ the graveyard, claiming that ‘a child peers into an open grave as its mother and a gravedigger look on’ (Shanes, 2001, p.28). I am not sure that I see an open grave – it looks more like a clumsily painted shadow – but the artist surely meant to make a general point about mortality in keeping with the setting, and he reinforced this by adding the figure of an old man tottering towards the church with the help of a stick. This was clearly added at the last minute as pen lines used to depict the building show through the figure.
(?) 1795
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
TG0317
1795 - 1800
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
TG0204
1792 - 1793
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
TG0208
1795 - 1796
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
TG0159