The Culver Cliffs

Pen-and-ink sketch of the Culver Cliffs, north of Sandown on the Isle of Wight. The sketch is annotated with notes and sailing instructions, including references to the ‘Nab buoy’ (marking the location of the Nab Rocks), a ‘Chalk Pit’ and ‘Sandown Castle’, a Device Fort built by Henry VIII in 1545.

The drawing is part of an album containing fifty-seven drawings (PAH4886–PAH4943) created by British naval officer Aiskew Paffard Hollis (1764–1844) during the late 1780s and the 1790s. The majority relate to his service as a lieutenant in ‘Pegase’ in 1785–90, in ‘Andromeda’ in 1790–93 and in ‘Queen’ in 1793–96. Included are portraits of Hollis’s shipmates, often with humorous captions, as well as scenes of everyday life ashore and afloat.

Object Details

ID: PAH4942
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Hollis, Aiskew Paffard
Places: Unlinked place
Date made: 1785–98
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: 96 mm x 178 mm
Parts: Album of drawings (Album)