Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley was one of the most popular sites for tourists in search of the 'Picturesque' in the late eighteenth century. The medieval ruins had been written about extensively by the Rev William Gilpin, an amateur painter and theorist of the Picturesque. He described its setting as 'a very inchanting [sic] piece of scenery', but he didn't like the nearby ironworks and 'shabby houses', and suggested ways of avoiding them.

Turner made several tours of Britain in the 1790's to make watercolours, many of which were published as engravings.