Hoveton – Etching by John Crome

I’m not sure exactly where this etching was made, but it’s somewhere in the area near to St. Peter’s Church in Hoveton. It was drawn in either 1811 or 1812 by John Crome (1768-1821), a local artist who was one of the founders of the Norwich School of painters. There’s something timeless about the etching, and although I can’t place where it was drawn, it probably looks the same today. Well, unless it’s now under a housing estate, but given how peaceful and remote St. Peter’s Church is, I rather hope not. One thing that I hadn’t realised until today is that Crome was also a teacher at Norwich School, as in the educational establishment and not the painting circle.

The plate was sold by Mrs. Judkin to the British Museum in 1872 following the death of her collector husband, Thomas James Judkin, who had died the year before. This etching, which is © The Trustees of the British Museum, isn’t on display in the museum and there’s also a similar one in their collections.