Gwydir Uchaf - the Chapel built by Sir Richard Wynne, 1673. Caernarvonshire
1941
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1941
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Gwydir Uchaf - the Chapel built by Sir Richard Wynne, 1673. Caernarvonshire is a 1941 watercolor by Kenneth Rowntree, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows an old stone chapel with a dark arched doorway and two shuttered windows. The walls are rough and weathered, with patches of moss or lichen creeping up the sides. In front, a pile of fallen leaves and rocks covers the ground, while a small tree and some ferns grow near the corner. The artist painted the date *1673* above the door—likely the chapel’s construction year. The scene feels quiet, like a forgotten corner of the countryside. Look up Rowntree, Kenneth to see more of his watercolor work.
The watercolour depicts Gwydir Uchaf Chapel in Caernarvonshire, signed and dated 1941. It was created as part of the 'Recording Britain' project, a wartime initiative that employed artists to document Britain’s landscape and architecture during the early 1940s. The scheme, led by Sir Kenneth Clark and funded by the Pilgrim Trust, aimed to preserve a record of places and traditions perceived to be at risk from war damage or modern development. The work is part of a larger collection of topographical studies produced by artists including John Piper and Rowland Hilder.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kenneth Rowntree painted quiet British places in watercolour around 1940, from barn-stacked Essex fields to the carved oak pews of Caernarvonshire chapels.
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