View Eastwards From Summit Of Brown Clee Hill

Artist William Williams (England, active 1763 - 1800)

Date1798

Mediumbrush and wash

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

Dimensions13 x 19 inches

AcquisitionPresented in 1957 by Miss Lizzie Hogarth.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationHistoric Loss - research into this object's history and current status is ongoing

Object numberABDAG017699

About MeOne of 99 drawings on 92 leaves of paper from a sketchbook used by William Williams.

Recto: Stone walled rampart in foreground with an artist sketching, his companion points to the distant view across the valley. In the middle distance one can make out a shepherd by a wind break, closer by there are also men working a windlass on the hillside. There are also indications of another hoist which is suggestive of mining operations.

In a county book 'Vale in Shropshire' dated around this time the comment is made about Brown Clee Hill (1790 feet) ''I cannot think of anywhere else where folk go to a mountain summit after coal''.

Subsequently it seems the the whole top has been cleared including the Iron Age fort described in the Victorian country history (1908). The summit of this hill is pitted with slight depressions which are the remains of the small surface mines that were sunk by individual or small packs of men in the red days for coal.

On verso: 'A view Eastward from the Summit of Brown Clee Hill the remains of a British Encampment'. There is also a lightly draw tonal drawing of a warrior with a shield.

This drawing, along with 46 other leaves from the same sketchbook, is now untraced. Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums is keen to reunite the drawings as one album. If you have any information relating to the current whereabouts of this work please contact Aberdeen Art Gallery.