Shropshire Ruin, Moreton Corbett

Details

John Piper, C.H. (1903-1992)
Shropshire Ruin, Moreton Corbett
signed, inscribed and dated 'John Piper 1939/Moreton Corbett' (lower left)
ink and bodycolour
15 x 20 in. (38 x 50.8 cm.)

Provenance

Purchased from the 1940 exhibition by Sir Michael Sadleir.
with Marlborough Fine Art, where purchased by the present owner in March 1968.

Exhibited

London, Leicester Galleries, Exhibition of Works by John Piper, March 1940, catalogue not traced.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Set within the village of Moreton Corbett near Shawbury, the first castle on the site was built by Bartholomew Torret following the Norman conquest in 1066. Approximately two hundred years later the Corbett family acquired the site built a stone castle there. The remains of the keep (1200) and gatehouse were merged with a later Elizabethan manor house that was added by Sir Andrew Corbett, the design of which Corbett is reputed to have been brought back from Italy. It was during the Civil War that Sir Vincent Corbett fortified the house in support of King Charles I and a force of 110 men were stationed there. However, following a trick in the middle of the night by ten Parliamentarian troops, the Royalist force at Morton Corbett surrendered.

As the Parliamentarians left, they burned down the castle, leaving what remains today.

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