This view of the church of St Nicholas in Great Bookham, seen from the east, is one of two watercolours that show the picturesque Surrey church covered in ivy (the other being TG0858, taken from the north east). Although neither work comes with any evidence about its early provenance, it is likely that at least one was commissioned by Girtin’s early patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Great Bookham is a kilometre or so to the west of Fetcham, where Monro rented a cottage between the years 1795 and 1805 (see TG0857 figure 2), and it appears that Girtin joined his patron there and that he sketched in the area. John Linnell (1792–1882), who knew Monro at a slightly later date, claimed that the patron took Girtin, as well as his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), ‘out to one or other of his country houses or elsewhere to sketch for him from Nature’ (Story, 1892, vol.1, p.41), and the catalogue of Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 lists a number of Surrey scenes by Girtin, including views of the nearby Box Hill and Norbury Park, as well as another local church, at Effingham (TG0345) (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 1 July 1833, lots 112, 114, 116 and 119). Thus, in addition to the hundreds of copies of outlines by John Robert Cozens (1752–97) that Girtin realised as watercolours with Turner, as well as the larger architectural subjects that he depicted for Monro, such as Durham Cathedral, from the South West (TG0919), the patron also acquired a group of local topographical scenes that had a more personal resonance. At least four of the church views that Girtin painted from sketches made in the vicinity of Fetcham have been identified (including TG0345 and TG0857), though neither the view of Box Hill nor the one of Norbury Park has yet been traced (Piggott, 1994, pp.8–10). These, I suspect, may yet be discovered amongst the many watercolours with those titles that are currently attributed to Turner. This view shows the fourteenth-century chancel of St Nicholas’ Church with the picturesque weatherboarded west tower clad in ivy. From this angle, more of the churchyard is visible than in the view from the north east, including a series of tombs that led early writers to mistakenly identify the church as Stoke Poges, the site of Thomas Gray’s (1716–71) Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751).

Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak did not include this watercolour in their catalogue of Girtin’s watercolour, and some doubts linger about the attribution. A number of artists associated with Monro depicted the church, including John Varley (1778–1842) and Henry Edridge (1768–1821) (see figure 1), as well as Turner (see TG0858 figure 1), whose view from the north east is very close to Girtin’s other watercolour, and it is conceivable that this work was produced by another member of the patron’s circle. Linnell himself recorded that he and William Henry Hunt (1790–1864) were ‘set to make copies’ of the sketches that Girtin and Turner executed on their trips with Monro, and he thought ‘the doctor used to sell their copies for originals’ (Story, 1892, vol.1, p.41). However, although the pencil work in this watercolour is uncharacteristically fussy and the uncertain command of perspective means that the structure of the building is unconvincing, I am still on balance minded to believe that the watercolour is by Girtin, though it may be earlier in date than the view from the north east, and perhaps executed from another artist’s sketch. This might account for the uncertain perspective and explain why he went on to produce a second, and altogether more mature, watercolour of the same subject, presumably based, this time, on his own on-the-spot sketch.

1796 - 1797

Great Bookham Church

TG0858

1797 - 1798

Effingham Church

TG0345

1796 - 1797

Durham Cathedral, from the South West

TG0919

1797 - 1798

Effingham Church

TG0345

1797 - 1798

Capel Church

TG0857