- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Layer Marney Tower
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 24.3 × 29.9 cm, 9 ⅝ × 11 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Thorn’, lower left; ‘white’ on the wall leading to the gate; ‘earth’ below; ‘Laremarney Castle, Essex’ lower left on the back, by Thomas Girtin; ‘Royal’, on the back
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work; Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Essex View; Gothic Architecture: Town and Domestic Fortifications
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1409
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 126 as 'Layer Marney Hall, Essex'; '1795'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911), by 1879; then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
New Haven, 1986a, no.28, as ’c.1795’
Place depicted
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities

An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
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
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

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

An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South
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
Private Collection, Norfolk
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About this Work
This sketch of Layer Marney Tower in Essex adopts an unusual viewpoint, with the west wing (in the foreground) all but obscuring the famous early sixteenth-century gatehouse beyond. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak dated the drawing to 1795, arguing that it was ‘unfinished’, and, though they do not explain the grounds for either assertion, the use of the term ‘underpainting’ to describe the colouring suggests that they thought it was an incomplete studio work and was not therefore made in the field (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.151). This is surely wrong, for why would Girtin have inscribed the drawing with notes such as ‘Thorn’, ‘white’ (on the wall next to the gate) and ‘earth’ (below)? Two alternative scenarios immediately suggest themselves. The first is that Girtin did indeed make his drawing on the spot in Essex, and, because it is very unlikely that the young artist was free to travel to the area early in his career, we should look at a later date for this sketch. Girtin exhibited a work titled ‘A mill in Essex’ at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1799 (probably TG1416) and produced a series of picturesque farm scenes in the same county, such as Turver’s Farm, Radwinter (TG1414), on commission from his future father-in-law, Phineas Borrett (1756–1843), at about the same time. All of this strongly suggests that the artist visited the area at this date. If this work was produced and coloured on the spot, then it would have been in around 1798–99, therefore. The alternative is that the work, like so many of Girtin’s architectural views, was actually copied from a sketch by another artist. The antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99), who provided Girtin with the model for numerous scenes, visited the county in 1790 and at least four of his Essex sketches were developed by Girtin into watercolours, including images of nearby Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church (TG0317) and the gatehouse of Beckingham Hall (TG0346). The fact that Layer Marney Tower is well away from the route Girtin must have taken on his visit to the county around 1798–99, added to the very obvious antiquarian interest of the subject, certainly in contrast to the picturesque focus of the later Essex views, suggests that the view was copied from an untraced sketch by Moore sometime around 1795–96.
Moore’s sketches either were pure outlines or had a simple monochrome wash added, so it is clear that Girtin’s colouring was not also copied from his source. However, if they were not added on the spot, we are left with the question of what function the washes of colour performed, not least because of the inscriptions noted above. Certainly, it is possible that Girtin added some colour to test how a finished watercolour might appear, but the more probable explanation is that, as in a number of other cases, most notably another Essex view, Writtle Church (TG1453), the artist returned to the sketch at a later date. We know from inscriptions in the book of drawings now in The Whitworth, Manchester, that Girtin was in the habit of selling sketches coloured on the spot (see the reference to a ‘sketch’ of ‘Rippon Minster cold on the Spot’ on TG1618), and there is a strong possibility that some of these were actually studio works misleadingly labelled. I suspect that this is what happened in this case: a studio copy was coloured to give the impression of a drawing made from life. It is impossible to tell precisely when this occurred, but the range of tints used – a mushroom grey for the walls, a darker grey for the tiles, and a pale cream and some pink for the sunlit gatehouse – suggests a few years later, when Girtin had moved away from the predominantly blue and green tones of his watercolour versions of Moore’s works that he produced around 1795 (such as TG0346). Indeed, with the exception of the blue and grey in the sky, the drawing employs the same tints as Writtle Church and I strongly suspect that Girtin worked on the two sketches at the same time.
(?) 1799
A Mill in Essex
TG1416
(?) 1799
Turver’s Farm, Wimbish
TG1414
(?) 1795
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
TG0317
1794 - 1795
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
TG0346
1795 - 1796
Writtle Church
TG1453
(?) 1800
The East End of Bolton Priory Church
TG1618
1794 - 1795
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
TG0346