07/09/2026
Are we the only Inn to be the subject of not one, but TWO Lowry drawings? ✏️
As far as we can discover, Tan Hill may be the only Yorkshire Inn to have been captured by L. S. Lowry not once, but twice.
Lowry is, of course, best known for his industrial landscapes of Manchester and Salford, filled with factories, chimneys and his famous matchstick figures. But after retiring from his day job in 1952, he travelled extensively around Britain and Ireland, sketching the places and buildings that caught his attention.
Somewhere along the way, he found his way to Tan Hill.
The first known drawing of the Inn dates from 1961, followed by another in 1962. The latter, simply titled Tan Hill, was drawn in pencil and ballpoint pen and is signed and dated by Lowry himself.
It’s a wonderfully simple picture. There are no crowds, no figures and very little surrounding detail. Instead, Lowry gives the Inn centre stage, standing alone amongst the vast, exposed moorland. More than 60 years later, the building is still immediately recognisable.
The 1962 drawing went on to be held by the Estate of L. S. Lowry and was exhibited at The Lowry in Salford as part of Unseen Lowry in 2013. It later appeared at Christie’s in 2019 with an estimate of £12,000–£18,000.
The earlier 1961 drawing has its own history too, later appearing at auction in 2022, where it sold for £6,400.
We rather like the thought that one of Britain’s most recognisable artists travelled all the way up here, found this solitary old Inn on top of the moors and thought it worth capturing twice.
We haven’t yet come across another Yorkshire Inn with quite the same Lowry connection, which makes this little piece of Tan Hill history all the more fascinating.
