`Lynmouth Old Tower`
Edward D..Percival c.1885
A tranquil sunset watercolour depicting the old tower which used to lie at the end of the harbour wall in Lynmouth.Two children can be seen in a small rowing boat, and fishing boats on the horizon. The tower itself has an interesting history. It was built in the early 19th Century by General Rawdon as a beacon to warn shipping of the rocky coastline. It is known as the `Rhenish` Tower as the style is that of similar towers along the Rhine.Later it was adapted to house a watertank for the sea water baths! It was destroyed in the disastrous floods of 1952 and subsequently rebuilt along with much of the sea wall. This watercolour is a typical and good example of Percival`s work. Edward.D.Percival was a watercolour painter working from the 1870`s until about 1905.He was the son of a Captain Percival, who owned a small fleet of boats working out of Ilfracombe. Percival`s early life is obscure, living in Kent and Sussex, but later he ran an art gallery and studio in Ilfracombe. He exhibited between 1891-1905 at the Glasgow Institute and the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham.