This Day in History: 1797-08-01

In summer 1797, (most probably late July, early August), Joseph Mallord William Turner sketched ‘Pontefract: The South Side of All Saints’ Church, with the Porch and South Transept 1797’ during his stay in Yorkshire as a guest of landowner Walter Ramsden Fawkes at Otley. The church, in the shadow of Pontefract castle, had been severely damaged in 1645 (its Tower being used as a lookout), hit by cannonballs.