Views of the Caves

Author: William Westall

Publisher: John Murray, 1818

William Westall (1781 – 1850) was an English artist best known for his works created during a scientific voyage around Australia between 1801 and 1803.

Views of the Caves is an annotated volume of twelve aquatint engravings devoted to the caves and scenery of Yorkshire, and was the equivalent of the modern day coffee table book. It contains the earliest known pictures of Yorkshire caves, and the earliest known reference to Dove Cote Cave. Westall was a friend of Adam Sedgewick and Willian Wordsworth, and regularly visited the north of England between 1811 and 1820.

It was very highly regarded at its publication, and inspired William Wordsworth to write three of his sonnets: "Pure elements of water...", "Malham Cove", and "Goredale Scar".

It was republished privately in a stapled-bound format by Anne Oldham in 1983, with an excellent introduction by Trevor Shaw. It consists of 12 pages of introduction, 8 pages of text, and 12 full page plates most of which are poorly reproduced.

The book contains the following engravings:


 * Dovecote Gill Cave
 * Entrance to Yordas Cave
 * Yordas Cave
 * Stalactites in Yordas Cave
 * The Trees above Weathercote Cave
 * Waterfall in Weathercote Cave
 * Weathercote Cave (*2)
 * Gatekirk Cave
 * Malham Cove
 * Approach to Gordale
 * Gordale Scar