The sixth of twelve children of a prominent Norfolk Quaker family, Richenda Gurney’s artistic talent was encouraged from an early age and she studied with the landscape painter John Crome. This striking watercolour fills the first page of the sketchbook Gurney used on a tour of Devon. An oblong sketchbook would normally be used for horizontally orientated landscapes, but Gurney chose to use hers in a vertical orientation. This emphasises the height of the cliffs surrounding the cove, lending drama to the composition.

The recent expansion of the railway made travel to previously remote areas like Devon more accessible. The presence of a group of tourists – including a woman bent over a drawing board, observing the scene, perhaps a stand-in for Gurney herself – alludes to these changes.