• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

***Museum is open 6 days per week: Tuesday - Saturday open from 10.30am - 4.30pm, Sunday open 11.30 am - 3.30pm, Monday - Closed***
*** See our shop page to get selected items from the shop by post. ***

Donate and Hear Me Roar Tyger

Read the story behind our tyger

Athelstan logo

Capturing the history of Malmesbury

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Venue Hire
  • About Us
    • Athelstan Museum Malmesbury
    • Friends of Athelstan Museum
    • Museum Collection Policy
    • Museum Support
    • Volunteers
    • News & Newsletters
    • Useful Web Links
  • Support Us
    • Make a Donation
    • Become a Member
    • Corporate Sponsors
    • Legacy Donations
    • Fundraising
    • Volunteering
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Venue Hire
  • About Us
    • Athelstan Museum Malmesbury
    • Friends of Athelstan Museum
    • Museum Collection Policy
    • Museum Support
    • Volunteers
    • News & Newsletters
    • Useful Web Links
  • Support Us
    • Make a Donation
    • Become a Member
    • Corporate Sponsors
    • Legacy Donations
    • Fundraising
    • Volunteering
  • Contact
  • Visit
    • Opening Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Inside the Museum
    • Accessibility
    • Shop
    • Explore Malmesbury
  • What’s On
    • Current Events
    • Past Events
  • Our Collection
    • Agriculture & Industry
    • Art
    • Transport
    • Coins
    • How People Lived
    • Highlights From Our Collection
    • Malmesbury Images
    • Malmesbury Voices
    • Textiles & Lace
  • Malmesbury History
    • Timeline
    • People
      • Charles James Fox
      • Eilmer The Flying Monk
      • Hannah Twynnoy
      • John Scotus
      • Joseph Addison
      • King Athelstan
      • Princess Eadgyth
      • Richard Hatchwell
      • Robin Tanner
      • St Aldhelm
      • St Lullus
      • Thomas Hobbes
      • Walter Powell
      • William of Malmesbury
      • William Stumpe
    • Architecture
      • Abbey and Spire
      • Aerial View
      • Castle
      • Early Churches
      • Market Cross
      • Silk Mills
      • Town Walls
    • Community
      • Concert Band
      • Education
      • Sports Clubs
      • Trade & Industry
    • Transport
      • Rail
      • Road
      • Vehicles
      • Water
    • Governance
  • Learning
  • Visit
    • Opening Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Inside the Museum
    • Accessibility
    • Shop
    • Explore Malmesbury
  • What’s On
    • Current Events
    • Past Events
  • Our Collection
    • Agriculture & Industry
    • Art
    • Transport
    • Coins
    • How People Lived
    • Highlights From Our Collection
    • Malmesbury Images
    • Malmesbury Voices
    • Textiles & Lace
  • Malmesbury History
    • Timeline
    • People
      • Charles James Fox
      • Eilmer The Flying Monk
      • Hannah Twynnoy
      • John Scotus
      • Joseph Addison
      • King Athelstan
      • Princess Eadgyth
      • Richard Hatchwell
      • Robin Tanner
      • St Aldhelm
      • St Lullus
      • Thomas Hobbes
      • Walter Powell
      • William of Malmesbury
      • William Stumpe
    • Architecture
      • Abbey and Spire
      • Aerial View
      • Castle
      • Early Churches
      • Market Cross
      • Silk Mills
      • Town Walls
    • Community
      • Concert Band
      • Education
      • Sports Clubs
      • Trade & Industry
    • Transport
      • Rail
      • Road
      • Vehicles
      • Water
    • Governance
  • Learning
Inside the museum

Art

Turner Picture

Turner painting of Malmesbury Abbey
Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.
Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, c. 1827

Thanks to significant grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Art Fund, the Athelstan Museum has been able to purchase a fine watercolour of Malmesbury Abbey by Joseph Mallord William Turner.

The artist simply known the world over as ‘Turner’ needs no introduction. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented artists this country has produced. His connection to Malmesbury is not so widely known but in fact he visited the town three times, first in 1791 aged just 16, and made several sketches of the Abbey and its setting above the Avon.

Developed from Turner’s early sketches and painted in about 1827, our watercolour is one of the 96 which make up Turner’s set of ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales‘ (1825-38). These views have long been celebrated as the finest of Turner’s topographical projects and noted examples of the picturesque movement. The England and Wales series embraced a diverse range of subjects from contemporary to more nostalgic subjects, recorded many years earlier. This view of Malmesbury Abbey falls into this latter category, representing a setting Turner had known since his adolescence, but enriched, when painted, with over thirty years’ experience. It is believed that this is the only finished watercolour of this aspect of Malmesbury Abbey.

This picture enhances the museum’s existing collection of Malmesbury related art; including works by Thomas Hearne who influenced Turner himself. A rotating exhibition will accompany the Turner watercolour in the Athelstan Museum’s mezzanine gallery. Critically this acquisition also offers opportunities for us to run programmes and events aimed at celebrating; and engaging more people with; the town’s rich heritage and culture.

The Museum has published a monograph to mark the acquisition of the painting; written by distinguished Turner historian Ian Warrell and lavishly illustrated with some of Turner’s early Malmesbury sketches and relevant works by other artists. This is available to purchase in the Museum shop and on online. See our Shop page…

The museum was honoured that HRH the Prince of Wales, patron of the Turner Society, recorded an introduction for our series of talks about Turner. You can watch this here.

Here you can listen to an interview with museum volunteer Sue Poolman, telling the story of the Turner and its acquisition by the museum.

Pencil drawing by Tom Girtin of Malmesbury Market Cross.

gritin drawing of the market cross


This is a pencil drawing by Tom Girtin of Malmesbury Market Cross. It is drawn from Gloucester Street looking eastwards and shows as well as the Market Cross the projecting fronts of the houses on the south side of Gloucester Street. Girtin visited Malmesbury twice, in 1791 and 1797.

The drawing was purchased by FOAM in 1982 with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Beecroft Bequest and North Wiltshire District Council and Malmesbury Town Council.

Other Images

  • malmesbury abbey
  • malmesbury abbey drawing
  • malmesbury abbey
  • malmesbury abbey
  • malmesbury abbey
  • malmesbury abbey
  • malmesbury abbey
  • market cross
  • market cross
  • market cross
  • market cross

Above Footer

Feed our Tyger

Click the donate button to hear him

Roar

roaring tyger

Hannah Twynnoy is possibly the first person to be killed by a tiger in England, but why was this possible? What happened to cause her death?

Donate and Hear Me Roar Tyger

english heritage artfund south west musedum development program
European Union logo
The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas
DEFRA logo Wiltshire Council logo Leader logo Vale Action logo

Footer

athelstan museum logo

Athelstan Museum
Town Hall, Cross Hayes
Malmesbury
Wiltshire, SN16 9BZ

Tel: 01666 829258
Email: info@athelstanmuseum.org.uk

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Collections

  • Agriculture & Industry
  • Art
  • Coins
  • How People Lived
  • Highlights From Our Collection
  • Malmesbury Images
  • Malmesbury Voices
  • Textiles & Lace
  • Transport

Become a Member

Friends of Athelstan Museum members are the backbone of the museum.

Become a member

Make a Donation

We rely heavily on donations to allow us to continue our invaluable work in the community and surrounding villages.

Make a donation

Copyright © 2022 · Athelstan Museum Malmesbury| Registered Charity: 1174110 | Data Protection Policy | Website Accessibility | Site Map | Website by Callia Web