This close-up view of the great tithe barn at Abbotsbury in Dorset was worked up in the studio from a colour sketch that Girtin executed on his West Country tour in the autumn of 1797 (TG1244). The artist is documented as having been in Exeter in early November, and it seems that his visit there to sketch an interior view of the cathedral was preceded by a journey along the Dorset coast that took in Weymouth and Lyme Regis, as well as Abbotsbury, where he produced another on-the-spot colour study of the early fifteenth-century tithe barn (TG1247) (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804).¹ The fact that Girtin coloured two views of the barn suggests that he had a commission for a studio watercolour, and there are in fact two other works that are based on the same study, one finished (TG1245) and one abandoned incomplete (TG1699). Certainly, that is the logical explanation for a visit to a site that Girtin had already depicted in a watercolour made for the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99) (TG0146), whose on-the-spot sketch provided the basis for a scene that predated Girtin’s visit to Abbotsbury by five or so years (see source image TG0146). On this later occasion, Girtin adopted pretty much the same viewpoint, though he concentrated more exclusively on the porch, and in doing so was able to record ‘something’ of the ‘former grandeur’ of what one contemporary guidebook referred to as a truly ‘noble edifice’ (Love, 1788, p.21). The author of The New Waymouth Guide recommended Abbotsbury as a rewarding excursion from the newly fashionable resort of Weymouth, fifteen kilometres away. One can imagine that Girtin’s watercolour, if not actually a commission, was targeted at visitors who wished for a souvenir of a picturesque site rather than an architectural record of the only remaining part of the Benedictine abbey – Moore’s motivation to order a view earlier. It seems that Girtin deemed a more informal, sketch-like commodity to be more suited to the task.

Comparing the studio watercolour with the on-the-spot sketch, which is fortunately in the same collection, one is struck by how close the former is to its source. The works have roughly the same dimensions, and, though the impact of the studio watercolour has been compromised by its poor, faded condition, we can still appreciate how Girtin carefully replicates the patterns of colour in the masonry, and the different textures of the stone and thatch, to reproduce the sketch-like effect of the original. Unlike the other, larger versions of the composition, which include more of the surrounding landscape to the right, the watercolour follows the sketch in dramatically cutting into the barn, helping to enhance its monumentality, so much so that the turret to the left and the massive portal itself take on something of the defensive character of a castle. The only substantial difference between the sketch and the studio watercolour is the addition of a shepherd resting on the mound in front of the door. His reflective pose helps to reinforce the notion that, even though the building was still in use as a barn, it is its ‘former grandeur’ that is celebrated here.

(?) 1797

The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury

TG1244

(?) 1797

Abbotsbury: The Tithe Barn, with a Pond

TG1247

1797 - 1798

The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury

TG1245

1800 - 1801

A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury

TG1699

1792 - 1793

The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine’s Chapel on the Hill

TG0146

1792 - 1793

The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine’s Chapel on the Hill

TG0146