Benjamin Brecknell Turner, 'North Side of Quadrangle

Benjamin Brecknell Turner
'North Side of Quadrangle, Arundel Castle, Sussex'
England
1852-1854
Albumen print from paper negative
Museum no. PH.44-1982

Despite having the traditional appearance of an ancient castle the part of Arundel photographed by Turner was barely 50 years old at the time. It lasted only 70 years before it was demolished in the 1870s. Dominating the east wing was a sculptural relief by J.F.C. Rossi showing King Alfred Instituting Trial by Jury on Salisbury Plain. Alfred the Great, the 9th century King of Wessex was renowned for his defence of England against the Danes, his institution of laws and encouragement of learning. Within the context of Turner's other pictures in Photographic Views from Nature - showing a cross-section of typical and celebrated English landscape and architectural types - Alfred stands as an appropriate human symbol of English historical lineage and patriotic native values.