Wymondham – Wymondham Abbey (Robert Dixon Print)

This print (© The Trustees of the British Museum) is in the collections of the British Museum, created by Robert Dixon (1780-1815) in 1810. Dixon was a Norwich man, who lived in Tombland for much of his life, working as a set painter at the Theatre Royal and also earning money house painting. He was trained at the Royal Academy, also working as an architectural draughtsman, specialising in landscapes from around Norfolk and particularly coastal scenes.

The print was purchased from James Reeve in 1902, a curator of the museum who collected works by members of the Norwich School of artists. Looking at the print, not much has really changed over the last 200 years, although fortunately the cows have been moved away from the churchyard. That’s the last thing I’d want when meandering around looking at gravestones.

Here’s what the tower looks like today.

And the arch which is on the print, still in nearly the same condition, a testament to how well it must have been built.