Matching an Illustration
I remember the copy of Watership Down that sat heavily on a shelf in my secondary school library. Occupying a sturdy slipcase, the book cover was emblazoned with the beautiful painted artwork of John Lawrence. I never looked inside and today that is something I regret: the Lawrence drawings and paintings I have seen online are stunning.
John Lawrence’s illustration from the west, underneath Watership Down.
I remember the copy of Watership Down that sat heavily on a shelf in my secondary school library. Occupying a sturdy slipcase, the book cover was emblazoned with the beautiful painted artwork of John Lawrence. I never looked inside and today that is something I regret: the Lawrence drawings and paintings I have seen online are stunning.
The best of these shows rabbits under the north face of the Down. Lawrence’s perspective was that of someone facing west, looking towards what Hazel would have known as ‘the evening side’. Out of sight, along from the end of the Down and along the ridge was the rounded slope of Ladle Hill.
This was a view I had long wanted to compare with reality. Until recently, April 2026, I had just never stopped to experience it for myself. Parking on the Kingsclere to Sydmonton lane can be hazardous and the small pull-in is an informal stopping point rather than a designated layby. But with bright sunshine coming in from behind Ecchinswell and menacing grey rainclouds rolling up from behind Watership Down, I finally went for it.
The closest I could get to reproducing John Lawrence’s illustration.
Things weren’t easy. The field was full of some type of green crop and I had no wish to upset anyone by wading through it. So I got my camera as low as I could and took a photograph.
It was only whilst editing the photo that I realised Lawrence had taken the choice to completely exclude the pylons and their power cables from his illustration. I expect the general aesthetic of the scene played its part. Some might say this spoils the image but I completely disagree. The pylons would simply detract from an otherwise beautiful rendering of the view from underneath Watership Down.
From the same spot, at the north-eastern corner of the ‘Great Field’, I shifted my gaze a little further on to the place on the ridgeline Richard Adams referred to as Hare Warren Down, and to its right, Ladle Hill; the latter resplendent with a bright yellow field of oilseed rape.
It would be nice to return here to repeat the exercise in the future when the field has wheat or barley growing in it. That would be a much better colour match for a photograph of Watership Down. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for 2027!
Hare Warren Down and Ladle Hill.
