St. Luke's Church, Brislington

Thomas Leeson Rowbotham (1782-1853)
Brislington Church near Bristol

Brown washes over pencil
26 by 21 cm., 10 by 8 ¼ in.

This drawing is likely to have been commissioned from Rowbotham by the great Bristol collector and anitiquary George Weare Braikenridge (1775-1856) who purchased Broomwell House in Wick Road, Brislington in May 1823. Braikenridge's collection of 1400 topographical views of Bristol and the surrounding area was commissioned from a number of local artists and includes 258 drawings by Rowbotham and others by Samuel Jackson, James Johnson and were bequeathed by one of his sons to Bristol City Art Gallery in 1908. He also commissioned over 100 drawings of Brislington alone in the mid1820s, mainly from Rowbotham of which this is probably one. Another view of the Hermitage at Wick House is in the collection of the Bristol City Art Gallery (K4907).

Brislington is two miles south-east of Bristol city centre and was described as one of the prettiest villages in Somerset in the early 19th century