Drawing Volume 85

Ecclesiastical, monumental and castellated antiquities of north Wales, John Buckler (1793-1894)

Reference: NLW Drawing volume 85

This folio edition of prints by John Chessell Buckler was published in London in 1810 by F. T. Sabin. It contains prints of views of towns and villages in north Wales concentrating mainly on the architectural aspects: churches, castles, tombs and mansions.

John Chessell Buckler (1793-1894), the son of a topographical and architectural draughtsman also called John Buckler, (1770-1851), was an artist who painstakingly reproduced buildings and whose work was therefore ideal as the basis for prints. J. C. Buckler probably trained with his father; their work is almost indistinguishable. Buckler, like his father, concentrated on the depiction of buildings and produced many fine watercolour drawings of British great houses, ruins and ancient sites such as churches. His drawings are accurate records of how buildings looked at a particular point in time and are therefore of interest to anyone who is researching the history of a locality or antiquity. He also practised as an architect and designed many important buildings, including Butleigh Court, Somerset and the Choristers Hall, Magdalen College, Oxford. He published several books of prints and more general architectural publications during his lifetime including:

• Views of the Cathedral Churches of England and Wales (1822),
• Sixty Views of Endowed Grammar Schools (1827),
• An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Royal Palace at Eltham (1828),
• History of the Architecture of the Abbey Church at St. Alban's (1847),
• A Description and Defence of the Restorations at Lincoln Cathedral (1866).