North Side of Quadrangle, Arundel Castle

Benjamin Turner was one of the first, and remains one of the greatest, British amateur photographers. He began practising photography in 1849 according to the technique patented in 1841 by the British inventor W. H. Fox Talbot (1800-1877). Turner's photographs were 'contact' printed from paper negatives (known as calotypes) of the same size as the print. He printed them on albumen paper, which is paper that has been floated on an emulsion of egg white containing light-sensitive silver salts. Between 1852 and 1854 Turner compiled 60 of his own photographs, including this one, in what is believed to be a unique album, 'Photographic Views from Nature'. It might have been a sample book, a convenient method for presenting photographs for personal pleasure, and for showing to colleagues or potential exhibitors. It remained in the Turner family until it was bought by the Museum.

Although there had been a castle on the site since the 11th century, the part of Arundel Castle that appears in this photograph by Turner was barely 50 years old. The 11th Duke of Norfolk had Arundel remodelled in a Gothic style; he was largely his own architect there. This is the east wing, combining a number of historic architectural forms. It is dominated by a Coade stone relief (Coade was a brand of artificial stone) modelled by J. F. C. Rossi showing 'King Alfred instituting Trial by Jury on Salisbury Plain'. Alfred (849-899), known as Alfred the Great, was a revered English monarch, celebrated for his leadership, his patronage of scholarship and education, and various legal reforms.