This undated sketch of Oakhampton Castle in Devon was probably made in the early 1780s. The vigour of the outline suggests a date after Italy, but compositionally it is comparable to castle studies made in 1777, in which Towne remains fairly distant from the viewed object (FT108, FT115); it could easily date from 1778–80 when Towne’s drawing style became much sharper but lacked the enlargement of scale and vision that was to come shortly, in Rome. Perhaps more likely, it could date from his time in England in the years immediately afterwards, and may be compared to monochrome nature studies of the mid-1780s such as were drawn for the Acland family. Evidently it comes from a series of drawings numbering at least 57. Paper watermarked “GR” was much used by Towne until 1781 (but see also FT436), which argues for a date prior to the Italian journey. The fact that the broad dating of this drawing can remain in doubt highlights the cursory impact of Towne’s foreign studies on his later work once he had returned to England.