4 RARE Early Photographs c1855 Brecknell Turner Ruins Lamphey Palace Carew Castle Manorbier Castle Tenby Castle

We have over three decades experience in antiquarian books (our first specialism) and saw this book in an antique centre some years ago.

We were intrigued due to the high quality quarter leather binding, the large size with it dating from around 1850.

We could see that the spine was damaged but wanted to see what the contents were….on opening the book, expecting poems or similar non fiction, we found large photographs – photography would have been in its infancy in the early Victorian period and not many people would have been able to afford the time or cost to travel and take photographs.

Most albums of photographs that we have come across over the past few decades have contained portraits. What surprised us were the large images of castle ruins, etc contained in the album, many with a copperplate type neat handwritten title at the bottom.

Unfortunately, the heavy card pages were loose and some were missing.
Also, some of the contents were torn due to the pages being loose.

We did some extensive reading around the subject and we believe that many of the photographs in the album were taken by Benjamin Brecknell Turner, an early photographer of rural England.

Benjamin Brecknell Turner (1815-1894) became famous for his “Photographic Views from Nature” an album compiled between 1852-1854 and now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

We then purchased a copy an excellent book “Benjamin Brecknell Turner – Rural England through a Victorian Lens” by Martin Baines (Victoria and Albert Museum London, 2001).

According to Martin Baines:
“Benjamin Brecknell Turner was one of the first, and remains one of the greatest, British amateur photographers. He produced some of the finest early photographs of rural England.”

There is a useful map in Barnes’ book that shows the locations where Turner took the photographs contained in his publication. One thing to note is that often, Turner would visit several location in one area while on his travels. These ‘clusters’ include Guildford (Peper Harrow Park, Losely Park, etc), Plymouth and Worcester.

What is interesting to note is that the photographs being offered in this listing of castle/monument ruins are in a very close cluster.

This lot consists of FOUR (4) rare and very early photographs as follows:

(1) Lamphey Palace
This image shows the ruins of the palace with one wing of the building in the centre, a large tree to the left and the rest of the building to the right.

There is a neat title at the bottom: “Lamphey Palace, Pembroke”.

This photograph measures 28.4cm x 18.3cm and is in very good condition as shown.

On the back are the remains of a photograph with the title “Pembroke Castle (another view)”.

(2) Tenby Castle
This image shows what has been entitled “The Old Gateway, Tenby”.
It is interesting to note that there is a figure of a young girl standing in front of the left ‘pillar’ of the gateway. The sun is quite high and casting a shadow with some residential building caught in the sunlight towards the left.

This photograph measures 28.4cm x 18.6cm and is in very good condition as shown. There is a small tear/rip at the top right corner which appears to have happened at the time it was mounted onto the page. There is also a crease on the top left corner & bottom left corner PLUS a small vertical tear towards the bottom right side.

On the back is:

(3) Manorbier Castle
This is a wonderful crisp view of the ruins in what appears to have been very good sunshine as can be observed by the way the cottage/house on the left has been ‘highlighted’.

This photograph measures 28.5cm x 18.1cm and is in very good condition as shown.

(4) Carew Castle
This is a wonderful view of the ruins with the title “Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire”.

The photograph has been taken from across the river which adds an effective border through the centre of the image.

This photograph measures 28.5cm x 18.1cm and is in very good condition as shown. There is a small ‘smudge’ at the top right corner which appears to be from the time it was mounted on the card and a crease in the bottom left corner.

On the back of this are the remains of a photograph with the title “Giltar Point, Tenby”.

It is unfortunate that the photographs have been pasted onto the pages by the original owner/photographer. The album has protected them however and as stated above, they are in remarkable, clean condition considering that they are around 170 years old!

Of note is an observation by Martin Barnes:
“In some instances the prints [photographs] were TRIMMED [emphasis ours] to slightly smaller sizes to improve the composition or hide the occasional fault or damage at the edges of the negative”.

Barnes then references this observation with a footnote as follows:
“In several instances in Photographic Views from Nature” it is evident that a slightly larger print of the same image has been PASTED [emphasis ours] over the top of a smaller print”.

It is also interesting to note that out of the 60 image that Turner included in his Album “Photographic Views from Nature”, fifteen are of medieval buildings. This includes the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, Whitby Abbey and Ludlow Castle.

With reference to photograph 2 (Tenby Castle) being offered in this lot, there is a very similar composition in “Photographic Views of Nature”: image 13 entitled “”Gateway, Cathedral Yard, Peterborough”.

Please note that there is some wear & tear to the thick card mounts that measure 37cm x 26cm but this does not affect the photographs.

Brecknell Turner’s photographs are highly sought after and have achieved tens of thousands of pounds at auction (please see images provided of auction records). The record price for his work is over £100,000.

There is some very detailed information about BBT and his works on the Victoria and Albert Museum website. The following is a brief introduction from the V&A:

One of the earliest British amateur photographers, Benjamin Brecknell Turner was experimenting with photography barely ten years after the invention of the medium. He exhibited widely during his lifetime and is best known for his beautiful photographs of 19th-century England, picturesque ruins and rural scenes.

Please note that images from other websites for information/example only.

Feel free to ask any questions!

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