Historic watercolour unearthed on back of Dryburgh geological field map

A BGS geologist has discovered a Victorian watercolour of the River Tweed on the reverse side of a geological field map. It had remained unnoticed in the BGS archives for more than 150 years. The newly uncovered artwork offers a snapshot of the iconic crossing, believed to be from just a year after it opened. It provides a unique record of the Victorian landscape around Dryburgh in the Scottish Borders.

The artwork was found by a building stones specialist who was looking through early field slips to gather more information on the area. It was quickly established that the painting depicts Dryburgh Suspension Bridge, which was completed in 1872. Following some further research, the watercolour is believed to have been painted around 1873 by Benjamin Neeve Peach, who was a geologist at the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland (now known as BGS) at the time and was known to be conducting fieldwork in the region around 1873. Peach was also well regarded as an accomplished artist; other examples of his work are held in the BGS archive and available on GeoScenic, BGS’s public online geological photograph database.

Field slips have always been a vital tool for geologists since the inception of the survey in the 19th century, as a way of recording important observations, measurements and notes whilst out in the field. It was not unusual for geologists, who are often out in the field for weeks at a time, to sketch the landscapes that have been shaped by the underlying geology. In this example, Peach is showing how the tough volcanic rocks of the Eildon Hills dominate the landscape around Dryburgh.

Our extensive data holdings are still very relevant today and they do occasionally throw up a welcome surprise when accessing them as part of modern research. In this case, we knew almost instantly we had stumbled across a Ben Peach artwork, given his signature style and prolificacy.

Daniel Burgess, BGS Geological Data Steward.

Peach worked at BGS from 1862 until his retirement in 1905. Alongside his geological work, he produced hundreds of sketches and paintings during his field surveys, documenting landscapes and everyday scenes across Scotland in his field notebooks and on the backs of his field maps.

Peach played a pivotal role in resolving the famous ‘Highlands Controversy’, one of the most significant geological debates of the nineteenth century. In 1883, Peach and his colleague John Horne were sent to the north-west Highlands of Scotland by Archibald Geikie, then the director-general of the Geological Survey, to investigate conflicting interpretations of the region’s structure. Peach and Horne demonstrated that neither of the two interpretations proposed at the time were correct, overturning contemporary ideas about the geological structure of the area. The discovery is regarded as one of the most important advances in British structural geology and was a critical part of the development of modern ideas about tectonics and mountain building.

The geological field map is now stored in the BGS Archives, alongside approximately 40 000 other items, which include administrative records and the papers of BGS staff.

More information on Benjamin Peach can be found on BGS Earthwise.