Published in the July, 1890 No. of Sun Artists, The Castle Garth included information on the cover of the wrapper that it had earned medals at exhibitions taking place at the Crystal Palace in South London as well as those staged in the cities of Richmond, Birmingham and York. (in 1889)

Believed to date to 1888, commentary on Sawyer’s Castle Garth appeared in the weekly Photographic News of London that year:

We now pause to notice (No. 26) “In the Castle Garth, Newcastle,” by Lyddell Sawyer, in which the camera looks down a somewhat irregular street, and a buttressed tower is seen through a dim haze in the distance. Indeed, the effect reminds one of what one often sees looking south in Fetter Lane late on a summer afternoon, with the Records Office towards the right, and the crown-like tower of St. Dunstan’s looking over the buildings. Sawyer’s picture is realistic to a degree, and if it were a piece of handwork, such an artist as Turner himself need not feel ashamed of having constructed it. (1.)

print notes recto: engraved and centered within plate margins below image: THE CASTLE GARTH. condition: water stain to upper right margin

1. excerpt: More About the Photographic Exhibition: in: The Photographic News: London: October 12, 1888: p. 641. Reference was when this photograph, first titled In the Castle Garth, Newcastle, was exhibited at the 33rd Photographic Society of Great Britain Exhibition that year.