Category: Watercolour

watercolour, pen and wash

Shoreditch Church: St Leonard E1

Here is St Leonard Shoreditch, which stands at the intersection of Shoreditch High St and the Hackney Road, postcode E1 6JN.

St Leonard’s, Shoreditch Church sketched 23 November 2023, 12″ x 9″ [sold]

There has been a Christian church here since medieval times. The present building dates from 1741 and was designed by George Dance the Elder (1695-1768). George Dance the Elder was the City of London surveyor at the time, and designed, amongst other buildings, Mansion House at Bank Junction.

The current church is active in the community. On the day I was sketching, a Thursday, they were offering meals to local people. This is the Lighthouse Project, “providing practical help, food parcels and hot meals to local people in need” according to their website. You can see several guests in the picture.

Placard offering "Free Community meal for the people of East London"

When the church was recently rebuilt at the turn of the millenium, a large amount of money was spent on its community needs and no funds were left to buy paint. Hence it still looks a bit bohemian. We think it’s quite endearing and shows people where our priorities are – with the community rather than how we look.

The current community is highly diverse. The wealth of the City meets the deprivation of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Our neighbours in Arnold Circus and St Hilda’s Community Centre are highly galvanised community groups acting for societal change.

Shoreditch Church website (https://shoreditch.saint.church/new-page-50)

This church houses the “bells of Shoreditch” from the children’s song “Oranges and Lemons”. If you go inside the church you can see a bell, which is resting on a wooden pallet on the right hand side of the nave.

when I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch.

The Society of Cumbernauld Youths in 1784 rang a complete peal of 12000 changes of Treble Bob Royal, taking nine hours and and five minutes.

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement’s. (St Clement Danes)
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin’s. (St Martin in the Fields)
When will you pay me?
Say the bells at Old Bailey. (St Sepulchre-without-Newgate)
When I grow rich,
Say the bells at Shoreditch. (St Leonard Shoreditch)
When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.(St Dunstan’s Stepney)
I do not know,
Says the great bell at Bow. (St Mary Le Bow)
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

The Society of Cumbernauld Youths in 1784 rang a complete peal of 12000 changes of Treble Bob Royal, taking nine hours and and five minutes, according to a placard in the church porch.

The bells are still rung.

This picture was a commission. My client was keen to have this upward view showing the front of the church. I did some practice sketches to understand the tricky upward perspective.

Thank you to my client for suggesting I draw this inspiring church, and for their permission to publish the photos of the drawing online.

Practise drawing in sketchbook
pencil sketch
Exploring the perspective
nearly finished
Practise drawing in sketchbook 13

Here is a map showing the location:

There is a current exhibition in the Guildhall London:

“Treasures of Gold and Silver Wire”
curated by Dr. Karen Watts, Emeritus at the Royal Armouries. It celebrates the 400 anniversary of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers.

In that exhibition there is a cope, a cape for the Bishop of London, showing 73 London Churches. To my delight, St Leonard Shoreditch features, on the right shoulder. It was designed by British embroiderer Beryl Dean and made by needlework students of the Stanhope Institute. (https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/commemorative-and-commissioned-textiles/silver-jubilee-cope-and-mitre)

St Leonard Shoreditch is the spire to the left of the words
The Silver Jubilee Cope on display in the Guildhall 16th December 2023

Having myself had a go at depicting those arches and columns on the spire, I am full of admiration for the embroiderers who managed to create an accurate image in wire thread. Hugely accomplished! The exhibition is on until 31st December 2023- well worth seeing.

Old Church of St Mary, Stoke Newington, London N16

Having sketched the Stoke Newington New Church, I was keen also to sketch the Old Church, which is just the other side of the road. This church is Elizabethan, constructed in 1562, on a very ancient site. It is in active use, and shares a vicar with the New Church across the way.

Old Church of St Mary, Stoke Newington, London N10 sketched 1 December 2023 in Sketchbook 13

The churchyard is overgrown and atmospheric, it was wonderful to stand there on this cold clear day.

The building is Grade II* listed. The listing is here and the At Risk listing is here. It is listed because of much of the building from 1563 has survived, and because very few churches were built in this period. Also, the listing comments on its “group value”, because it stands next to the New Church. “The two make a memorable contrast and are a striking visual representation of the demographic changes from the C16 to the C19 in this area.” says the listing. The Old Church is small and domestic in scale, the New Church is magnificently huge.

Some history is given on the placard by the entrance.

ST. MARY’S OLD CHURCH, STOKE NEWINGTON
The Manor of Stoke Newington is recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) to be the property of the Canons of St.Pauls Cathedral in whose possession it still remains. It is reputed to have been the Gift of King Athelstan about the year 940. It is probable therefore that a Church has occupied this site since Anglo-Saxon times. The South Aisle was built in 1563 by William Patten Lord of the Manor In.1829 Sir Charles Barry enlarged the Church. Severe bomb damage was sustained in 1940 and the Church was restored to its present state in 1953.

The future? This building is on the Historic England Heritage at Risk register, at risk level A, the highest, because there is “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric; no solution agreed”

I sketched the church quickly as it was 2 degrees C outdoors. Then I caught the number 73 bus back down the hill to central London. Here is work in progress on the sketch.

Trellick Tower, London W10

Here is the magnificent Trellick Tower in West London.

Trellick Tower from the Golbourne Road, London W10. Sketched 28 November 2023 in Sketchbook 13

This tower is 271 flats, 31 stories, completed in 1972 to the design of Ernő Goldfinger (note 1). It is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, near the Grand Union Canal and the A40 trunk road out of London. It is Grade II* listed (note 2)

After sketching, I was really cold. I found warmth and excellent food in the Sicilian Café “Panella” shown on the map above, recommended!

Panella – Golborne Road
Sketching location
A bright and cold day
the base of the Trellick Tower

Sketchbook spread: Trellick Tower

I have previously sketched the Balfron Tower in East London, also designed by Ernő Goldfinger.

Balfron Tower

Note 1: Information on the Balfron Tower and Trellick Tower is from the RIBA website: https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/inside-the-riba-collections/trellick-tower-turns-50

Note 2: Grade II* listing: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1246688?section=official-list-entry

The RIBA site gives the number of flats as 271, the Historic England Site as 217.

55 Holywell Lane, London EC2, Village Underground

55 Holywell Lane, London EC2A 3PQ, sketched 17 November 2023 in Sketchbook 13

This apparently dilapidated building stands on the edge of a building site in Shoreditch. The flaking shopfront announces “The Mission”. It looks dusty and closed up.


This is 55 Holywell Lane. The Victorian decorations on the front of the building say “G.T. 1893”.


Despite appearances, the building is in active use. It is part of “Village Underground” – “part creative community, part arts venue”. “home to cutting edge culture, clubbing and live music” founded in 2006.
In the centre right of the drawing you can see the underground train carriages, hoisted on top of the venue.
Their website says

“It’s a strange little haven of calm in the carriages, above the chaos of Shoreditch, enclosed by skyscrapers on each side, where we grow fruit and veg in our little rooftop garden, get excited about new bands and parties, plot and plan how to improve the venue, decide which shows to book, and try to get more people to come to our shows. “

https://villageunderground.co.uk/about/history/


This is an area of London undergoing transition. In the background of my drawing you can see the huge residential and office towers next to Liverpool Street Station: “The Stage” and “Principal Place”. I sketched the picture standing under the elevated overground railway line, next to a building site. On the white wall shown to the right of my drawing, people were making a large mural, an advertisement for a whisky brand. The number 135 double-decker buses came past at what seemed like extraordinary frequency.


Cars and buses queued in this small street waiting to cross Shoreditch High St. It was a narrow pavement, and not a great place to sketch. But two people came and looked at the drawing: it’s a great skyline, they observed, looking at the view. And it is.

Here is the view of the site from Great Eastern Street early in the morning. The underground train carriages are visible top left.

Trinity College Dublin, corner

I was intrigued by this juxtaposition of two very different buildings, each radical in its own way. The top corners are just a few feet from each other.

A corner of Trinity College Dublin: Museum Building on the left, Library on the right with “Sphere with Sphere” in front. October 22nd 2023, in Sketchbook 13

The building on the left is called the Museum Building. It houses the Geography department, amongst others. I know this because there was a notice visible in one of its windows asking:

“Without Geography, where are you?”

This building was finished in 1852. According to the website “makingvictoriandublin.com” the style is called “Ruskinian Gothic”. The design is by Cork architects Deane, Son and Woodward, influenced by the philosophies of the English writer, artist and art critic John Ruskin, says the Making Victorian Dublin site.

Central to the design was a radical endorsement of the creative power of human happiness…the architects encouraged the freedom of their workmen [sic] in designing and executing the building’s external and internal carvings.

“makingvictoriandublin.com“

The external and internal carvings are very complex combinations of leaves and flowers. A notice inside the building tells us that all the building’s carvings are by brothers John and James O’Shea of O’Shea and Whelan and that they gathered wild flowers and animals (amazingly) to use as models.

Even as the Museum Building was being built the Dublin press recognised it as the first experiment in British and Ireland of Ruskin’s radical views – a clear demonstration of the ‘the desireableness of employing the minds of the workmen’.

This experiment’, wrote the reviewer in the Dublin Express, ‘proves the general correctness of [Ruskin’s] views, and, moreover, has resulted far better than even the most sanguine advocates of this system had allowed themselves to expect.’

“makingvictoriandublin.com“

The whole building is influenced by Venetian designs observed by John Ruskin.

The inside of the building is spectacular. As well as the soaring architecture and the fascinating patterns and arches, there are also two skeletons of elks, some dinosaur footprints, and a model of a floating crane boat. You could spend hours there sketching.

Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, interior, 22 October 2023.

The building on the right of my drawing is a library, opened in 1967. It is in the radical style of that period: the Brutalist style. The building’s clean lines and functional appearance are characteristic of this style. The architect was Paul Koralek of ABK architects.

The library in 1967: Berkeley Library, Trinity College, Dublin: the entrance front and raised forecourt. Photo credit: Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections. [RIBA51354] Used with permission.

In 2017 the College ran a celebration of the library after 50 years. Their website includes pictures of the interior and furnishings. https://www.tcd.ie/library/berkeley

Two buildings talking to each other
“Sphere with Sphere”

The spherical object in my drawing is a sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro called “Sphere with Sphere 1982/3” according to an inscription on the pavement.

I sketched for about an hour and a half. During that time waves of people crossed the square. There were a remarkable number of tourists, some with tour guides, moving in groups.

At one point, a solitary woman approached me and asked to see the picture. She smiled and said something in her own language which sounded like a compliment. So I said thank you, and smiled back. She told me that she didn’t speak English, and held up four fingers, counting, to explain she had only been here for four days. She was from Ukraine, she said. Her hands modelled an aeroplane taking off and landing. A wide uplifted arm gesture took in the autumn sun, the buildings and the people, expressing gladness to be here. She pointed at my drawing, and nodded again, making what was evidently a positive comment and a connection. Then she said goodbye and I said goodbye.

Sketching location
Sketchbook 13

Colours used:

  • Buff titanium (all brickwork and concrete)
  • Mars Yellow (brickwork, concrete, sphere
  • Ultramarine Blue plus Lavender (sky)
  • Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber (all greys)
  • Serpentine Genuine (trees)
  • a small bit of Cobalt Teal Blue and Fired Gold Ochre in the background

All Daniel Smith watercolours except the Ultramarine Blue which is Horadam watercolour.

St Mary Stoke Newington N16

“What is that spire?”

It’s just visible, on the horizon between office blocks. Some work with the binoculars and the map established that it must be St Mary Stoke Newington, some 3 to 4 miles away to the North.

“What is that spire?”

I went up there to make sure, and to have a closer look at this building which was visible at so great a distance.

St Mary Stoke Newington, the “New Church”, London N16. Sketched on October 17th 2023 in sketchbook 13, size: 10″x 8″

I sketched the church from Clissold Park.

Stoke Newington is another world, even though just 4 miles from the City. My sketching location was a few yards from the gate of the park. A succession of people entered the gate and walked along the path: old and young, solitary and in groups, noisy, meditative and with or without dogs. Each person or group carefully opened the gate, then turned round and closed it again behind them. At one point, a very elderly person approached the gate in a wheelchair. Someone who had just passed through noticed them, returned to the gate, and with a respectful flourish, opened both gates wide, to allow the passage of the wheelchair, and then carefully closed the gates again afterwards. It was all very civilised, and restored my faith in the human race.

If you wish to visit this church bear in mind that the overground lines are rather complicated in this area. The one to get is the one which goes north from Liverpool Street. The one from Shoreditch, although going in broadly the same direction, takes another route entirely and you end up in Dalston, which is also an interesting place, but different. I walked from there to Hackney Downs to find the right railway line, and discovered more as-yet-unexplored areas of London.

Overground routes in the Stoke Newington area.

St Mary Stoke Newington New Church was built in 1854-8, to the design of Sir George Gilbert Scott. His other works include the Midland Hotel at St Pancras, the Albert Memorial, Westminster Abbey, the Martyr’s Memorial in Oxford and St John’s College Chapel Cambridge, to name but four. So the people of Stoke Newington got a rock-star architect in 1854. This was because Stoke Newington had a hugely popular preacher, the Reverend Thomas Jackson, with people coming across London to hear him preach. The cost of the new church was raised by voluntary contributions1 from this large congregation.

The spire was added by Sir George’s son John Oldrid Scott, in 1890.

Stoke Newington New Church seen from Stoke Newington Church Street
The impressive interior of Stoke Newington New Church.

Across the road is the much smaller “old church” which this “new church” replaced. The old church is still there, looking like a country village church.

Stoke Newington Old Church, 17th October 2023

Now I know what that spire is, on the horizon, I think I should make another visit, to sketch the old church.

Sketchbook 13, Stoke Newington New Church

Note 1: The information about Thomas Jackson and the cost of building the New Church is from the St Mary website https://www.stmaryn16.org/history.html, downloaded 24 October 2023. For even more detail see also British History Online here: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol8/pp204-211

Inner Hebrides – Sketch and Sail 2023

I’m just back from a “Sketch and Sail” adventure on the Lady of Avenel, a square rigged brigantine. I was one of the art tutors, together with Claudia Myatt. We spent a week sailing around the Inner Hebrides with a group of other sketchers: sketching the boat, the sea and the landscapes. The drawings which follow are ones I made. Participants’ drawings, with permission and attribution, will appear on the Lady of Avenel website.

Lady of Avenel Saloon “Welcome to Sketch and Sail”
Looking at islands
Landscape on Mull
A sketch near Lismore
Workshop participants in action on the table inside the Lady of Avenel

This was September in Scotland. There was wind and rain. Two storms passed over: “Nigel” and “Agnes”. But somehow, in between it all, we all did a lot of sketching. Our Skipper, Stefan Fritz, was skilled at finding sheltered anchorages. Claudia and I worked with him to plan the days so there was always something interesting to sketch.

There were days when we went ashore. Here are the boats at Salen on the Isle of Mull. Two hulks of fishing boats are in their final resting place on the beach. They lean on each other. Their grand forms are still majestic, and their paint has now flaked to reveal multi-coloured undercoats and timbers.

Boats at Salen. 25th September 2023, A5 postcard.

We visited Castle Duart. Some people went inside, others sat outside on the grass and had a go at sketching the castle’s complicated shape.

Castle Duart (and tourist), 28th September 2023

Those chimneys had multiple points, like crowns. One of the participants did a careful study of them. In the grounds of the castle there were porcini mushrooms. These were confidently identified by one of our number, a horticulture expert. We left the mushrooms exactly where they were. We didn’t touch them or eat them. But we did draw them. My drawing does not give the scale: they were about 3 inches across.

We sketched the land from the sea.

From Fishnish, near isle of Mull
Near Tobermory, Isle of Mull
Leaving Lismore
Isle of Kerrera, East side

There were inspiring atmospheric effects. Here is a glimpse of the sun near the isle of Lismore.

On the way to Port Ramsay, Isle of Lismore. 28th September 2023

That neat round sun is made using a drop of melted candlewax from a nightlight which a member of the crew, Nessie, found for me. Nessie, a.k.a Carol Anderson, is an astonishing fiddle player. She played tunes for us on some evenings. We were all impressed by her skill. She maintained several melodies at once, all on just one fiddle. Other people played the harp and the recorder, and we sang sea shanties: half-remembered but rendered with gusto, and accompanied by assorted musical instruments and improvised percussion.

Nessie was our cook for this expedition. We also had a mate, the mate’s mate, and a ship hand, to help the skipper manage the boat. They were out there even in the pouring rain, getting us to the next safe harbour, piloting us past landmarks and between islands, and managing the engine and sails. Thanks to this crew, we had a productive and inspiring voyage: always something to see or do. The sails are beautiful, although quite hard to sketch.

Sketching on the move.

Some people took time off sketching to enjoy working the boat: hauling on ropes or taking the wheel. A brave few elected to climb the rigging. One person even did a sketch from up there.

In the intervals between other activities, and when it rained, Claudia and I ran various workshops, so that people could learn new techniques, share skills, or get started: depending on skill level.

Making black and grey
Line workshop: the teapot
Colour mixing
Colour mixing

The expedition was great fun, and highly productive. Sketchbooks were filled, postcards painted and sent, maps examined and weather apps compared.

We intend to run it again in 2024 and 2025. If you’re tempted to come, you can register your interest now by contacting me, or Claudia Myatt, or the Lady of Avenel direct. You don’t need any experience of sketching or sailing!

Here’s a page-turn of my sketchbook (about a minute, silent video). The sketchbook is from JP Purcell, A5, watercolour paper 300gsm. I use Daniel Smith watercolours: you can see the colour palette at the beginning of the video. (The video plays on tablets and desktops. It does not play on email or on mobile phones. Try looking at this post via the web on this link)

I’ve sketched on the Lady of Avenel before:

Lady of Avenel delivery passage, October 2022, Caledonian Canal

The Lady of Avenel is an 102ft square rigged brigantine. She was on the East coast of Scotland, and needed to be on the West Coast. So a group of us assembled to take her through the Caledonian Canal, from the North Sea to the Atlantic. This whole journey was about 190km or 120miles. I…

Outer Hebrides 2017

I took my sketching things on a swimming expedition to the Outer Hebrides with Swimtrek. We were on the wonderful Lady of Avenel 102ft square rigged brigantine. We started in Oban. It was raining when I drew this picture, as you can see from the way the pen has drifted a bit, round the chimneys.…

Sketching near Oban, Argyle and Bute, Scotland

The Lady of Avenel is an 102ft square rigged brigantine, currently based near Oban, on the west coast of Scotland. Every year the Lady of Avenel needs a refit to prepare her for her working season. This year I went up there to join the working party for the refit. I travelled by overnight train…

Lady of Avenel at Heybridge Basin

Here is Lady of Avenel, 102ft Brigantine. This was the third of three sketches. Here are the first two. I have drawn Lady of Avenel previously: Outer Hebrides 2017 See also these pages for pictures of and from Lady of Avenel: Outer Hebrides 2017 Outer Hebrides 2016 Sketch notes from maritime Holland

Lady of Avenel etchings

Here is the Lady of Avenel in aquatint. Here is the hard ground, before the aquatint went on: To help with the aquatint, I made a small test plate. It seemed a pity to leave it blank, so I put some sea life: Lady of Avenel is an 102ft brigantine square rigger. I sailed on…

St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, EC2

Bishopsgate Plaza is on the East side of Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street. From the seats there, here is the view of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. I sketched amongst the many people enjoying the sun at lunchtime.

St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, EC2. 15th September 2023, 1pm. 10″x 7″ in sketchbook 13

The current church was constructed in 1729, to the designs of James Gould. There has been a place of Christian worship on this site since Roman times. The parish registers are complete from 1558 according to the church’s website.

Viewed from Bishopsgate Plaza, the church is all but submerged in the surrounding buildings. The large glass structure is the entrance to the “Pacific Ballroom”. This is part of the Pan Pacific Hotel, which was behind me as I sketched.

I find it quite hard to draw people, but I wanted to include the discussion between the two women. Their lively conversation contrasted with the stillness of the church, and the enormity of the buildings all around. They created a little private world between themselves.

Here is work in progress on the sketch:

Sketchbook 13

4 St Michael’s Alley, MacAngus & Wainwright, EC3

Here is 4 St Michael’s Alley, City of London, EC3, the premises of MacAngus & Wainwright, bespoke tailors. Their business uses all the floors. Above the ground floor showroom are the fitting room, workroom and cutting room.

4 St Michael’s Alley, London EC3, the premises of MacAngus & Wainwright, bespoke tailors.

The shop is just off Cornhill, near Bank in the City of London and right next to the Jamaica Wine House which I sketched previously. You can see a bit of the Jamaica Wine House on the right of my sketch. The prominent lamp is outside the “George and Vulture” pub, which is hidden on the left.
I made two pictures of this building, on different days and from slightly different angles. Here is the other one:

4 St Michael’s Alley, London EC3, the premises of MacAngus & Wainwright, bespoke tailors.

Here is work in progress on the drawings.

preliminary sketch
preliminary sketch

A succession of tour guides took their groups into the alley in the centre of my picture. This is Castle Court. These alleys apparently feature in Charles Dickens stories. Since J.K Rowling was inspired by the novels of Charles Dickens, there’s also a Harry Potter angle. I overheard this in fragments of tour guide talks. I don’t know if it’s true.

I started sketching in the late morning. This was the time for tour guides. Later, starting from about 1pm, the courtyard became populated by drinkers at the Jamaica Wine House. They were polite people, helpfully stepping aside and congregating on the other side of the alley, so they did not block my view.

The drawings are on Arches Aquarelle 12″ x 7″ 300gsm cold-pressed watercolour blocks, using Daniel Smith paints. The colours are:

Blues: Ultramarine Blue, Lavender, Cobalt Teal Blue

Yellows: Mars Yellow. The house on the right at the back is mostly Nickel Titanate Yellow. It was quite a hard colour to match.

Browns: The tailors building is a mix of Buff Titanium with Mars Yellow. The Jamaica Wine House and other buildings are Fired Gold Ochre, with a bit of transparent Pyrrol Orange.

All blacks and greys are a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber.

The pen drawing is De Atramentis Document Black ink in a Lamy Safari Fountain pen, fine nib.

21 and 23 Park Street, Borough SE1 “Take Courage”

I enjoy the marvellous trigonometry of this roof, and the encouraging slogan on the wall.

21 and 23 Park Street, Borough, Southwark, London SE1. Sketched 30th August 2023, 2pm.

The slogan is for a brewery, Courage.
This house was built in 1820 for the managers of the Anchor Brewery, then on this site. The Anchor pub is on the river Thames nearby.

Map from “Borough Yards” poster (rotated to put North at the top)

The building, and its cast iron railing, is listed Grade II, number 1385752. When I searched for the list entry in the Historic England register, I found, to my surprise, that the bollards in my picture have their own special listing, number 1385753 “

“5 cast iron Canon posts 1 inscribed “CLINK 1812”

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1385753?section=official-list-entry

So I had to go back and have a closer look at them. Why were they listed? The list entry does not say. There are some bollards in London which are former cannon. It’s always a delight to discover them. They can be positively identified because you can see the indentation or hole near the base, which is where the gunpowder used to be poured in. Also they sometimes have protrusions about two-thirds down where they used to pivot on their gun-carriage. Sometimes the base is flattened on one side. Here are some examples of cannon (click the image to enlarge and see location):

I was unable to find on these 21 Park Street bollards any characteristic which confirmed they might have been cannon. The listing says they are “canon posts” – “canon” spelt like that – not “cannon”. The words “CLINK 1812” were still just about visible on the bollard which is on the right in my drawing. Here are some photos of the posts outside 21 Park Street. Click to enlarge and see captions. Do you think they might be real cannon, or perhaps the word “canon” simply describes a design of post.

“Clink” was the name of the area, from about 1127. It was called the “Liberty of Clink”. The designation “Liberty” implied that it was a civic area under the jurisdiction of the local manor, rather than the King, or the City of London. Famously, certain activities, including theatres, which were forbidden in the City of London were permitted here. The Liberty of Clink was abolished in 1889 and amalgamated into the Southwark in the County of London.

Here are some photos of work in progress on the drawing:


Drawing size 10″ x 8″ on Arches papers 300gsm NOT watercolour paper, in a sketchbook made by Wyvern Bindery.

Watercolours by Daniel Smith:

  • ultramarine blue
  • fired gold ochre
  • green gold
  • burnt umber
  • yellow line is naples yellow
  • All blacks and greys are Ultramarine Blue plus Burnt Umber

A notice on 21 Park Street reads:

The tree closest to this building
 is planted in fond memory of 
Tom Quinlivan 1934-1996 
long time resident of Park Street.