Michael ‘Angelo’ Rooker made many walking tours across England and Wales, during which he would visit and sketch picturesque ruins. Castle Acre Priory, near Swaffham in Norfolk, is a former Cluniac priory founded in the eleventh century. The ruins include superb examples of blind arcading, which can be seen in the shadowy area on the right in this view. Rooker has depicted labourers and farm animals ambling among the ruins, where a more conventional watercolourist might have added picturesque groups of visitors. This view of a favourite site, not far from Sandringham, was purchased by Queen Elizabeth in 1939.