This unassuming sketch of the village of Middleham in Wensleydale is of some significance because, as one of only a handful of examples where Girtin dated an on-the-spot drawing, it provides a crucial reference point for the artist’s trip to Yorkshire in 1799. Amongst the thirty or so watercolours that Girtin produced for Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) in 1800, there are views of at least seven Yorkshire locations that the artist did not visit in 1796. From this, together with the dated drawing of Middleham and other related sketches, it is possible to at least outline his progress through the county in 1799. Based at least for some part of the time at Harewood House, the home of arguably his most important patron, Edward Lascelles (1764–1814), Girtin appears to have visited Hawes, Ripon, Knaresborough and Wetherby, making sketches from which a series of important watercolours were painted, though no view of Middleham was ever produced. Presumably, a view of the market cross and a row of nondescript buildings – with the spectacular ruins of the castle that had formed the subject of his earlier watercolour for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) relegated to the distance (TG0279) – was not what prospective patrons wanted. 

The fact that this drawing is dated 1799 is significant for another reason, however. The Whitworth Book of Drawings (TG1323, TG1324 and TG1600–1625) includes another version of the drawing (TG1620), which, because it is executed on paper with an 1801 watermark, can conclusively be shown to be a replica of this on-the-spot sketch. Indeed, overlaying images of the two drawings, which have the same dimensions, indicates that the Whitworth version was traced from this sketch, as every feature matches exactly, down to the detail of the blacksmith shoeing a horse. Girtin’s willingness to create a replica of his on-the-spot sketch, combined with the fact that he clearly added the signature and the inscription after the drawing’s completion, helps to create a compelling narrative for both works. Thus, it seems that Girtin found a buyer for his original sketch and, wishing to keep a record from which he might produce finished watercolours, he replicated his drawing and inscribed and signed the original for the benefit of the purchaser, adding a pencil line border at the same time. Given that at least one other pencil outline in the Book of Drawings was also copied from an on-the-spot sketch (TG1601), it is therefore likely that the other view of Middleham on the next page (TG1619), showing the castle in a landscape setting, records another untraced drawing made in the village in 1799.

To complicate an already confusing picture, what appears to be a second autograph replica of the composition has recently been identified in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum where it is wrongly attributed to Henry Edridge (1768–1821).¹ This will be added as TG1521 to the catalogue for the next update of the site scheduled for the end of January 2025. In the meantime, an image of the work can be found by following the link to the drawing in the V&A (1102:286).

Image Overlay

1795 - 1796

Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle

TG0279

(?) 1801

Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond

TG1620

(?) 1801

Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea

TG1601

(?) 1799

A Distant View of Middleham Castle, with the River Ure in the Foreground

TG1619