Print, titled as above, from Dodd's 'Dockyard' set of six (1789-90). The subtitle states that 'This view is taken from the Banks of the River Medway, near Upnor Castle.' Text then follows in two columns: 'We can trace this Royal Yard as far back as Queen Elizabeth's Reign, but since that time it has undergone great Alterations and improvements so as to become the greatest Building Yard in the Kingdom. And when this View was taken there was on the Stocks the Leviathan of 74 guns finished, the Ville de Paris upwards of 100 Guns Building, the Royal Charlotte nearly finished, one of the [second column] largest Ships in the World being upwards of 2278 tons Burden, and on the same construction and dimensions with the Royal George lately launched there, and now lying in the River Medway, and three Ships of the Line in Dock repairing -- Publish'd Octr 29, 1789, by J. & J. Boydell, Cheapside & at the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall Mall London.'

Dodd did two series of dockyard and seaport prints, easily confused in image terms. The early and slightly smaller unnumbered Royal Dockyard set was published by Boydell, comprising Blackwall (though not a Royal yard but see below) and Deptford (PAH9746) issued on 25 March 1789; Woolwich (PAH9725) and Chatham (PAH9714) on 29 October 1789; Plymouth (PAH9767) on 1 September 1790 and Portsmouth (PAH9742) on 1 November 1790. The larger numbered ones in a series called 'a Collection of the Sea Ports & of the River Thames' were published by Freeman on 4 June 1793: no.1 Greenwich (PAI7098 from his 1792 oil, BHC3867), no. 2 Limehouse (PAI7128), no. 3 a view of the river and shipping near the Tower of London (not in NMM: copy in BM), and no. 4 Dover (PAI7087).

While Blackwall was a civilian yard, it built many navy ships and Dodd's view of it (PAH9724), published with that of Deptford in March 1789, shows the launch of the 74-gun 'Bombay Castle', a warship built for the Navy as a gift of the East India Company. This, and to make a projected set of six rather than five, is presumably why it was included in the otherwise naval dockyard group. [PvdM 10/05, amended 1/16]