Minehead and Dunster Castle, Somerset

Turner was commissioned to make a series of coastal views for the proposed publication 'Picturesque Views of the Southern Coast of England' around 1811. This watercolour, and another in the collection, 'Portsmouth, Hampshire' (LL 3783), were made for this purpose. Turner visited Minehead in Somerset towards the end of his 1811 tour to the West Country. He didn’t finish this watercolour until 1818. The composition and perspective of this picture are characteristic of Turner. He liked the sweeping view that a high foreground gave to the landscape.