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In the later 18th century, English landscape watercolours were beginning to be appreciated throughout Europe and in the 19th century they were eagerly collected. Painting in watercolours was a skill that many middle-class amateurs took up, often studying under professional drawing masters.

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Between 1800 and 1805, Cotman embarked on a number of sketching tours that were to have a dramatic effect on his artistic development. In 1800 and again in 1802 he travelled to Wales in search of the Picturesque, where he saw the castles and wild mountains that were to fire his imagination for the rest of his life. On his second trip Cotman was probably accompanied by Paul Sandby Munn (1773-1845), who was also with him during the early stages of his first trip to Yorkshire in 1803. In 1806 Cotman set up as a drawing master in his native Norwich. There Cotman was able to disseminate his methods of sensitive drawing and innovative watercolour technique, providing his pupils with a large library of paintings and drawings for them to copy.

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The influence of Yorkshire on Cotman was as significant as it was to Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), both of whom were indefatigable travelling watercolorists in their youth. Yorkshire's ruined abbeys, which include Fountains, Rievaulx, Byland, Whitby, Bolton and Jervaulx, were a frequent source of inspiration for British painters throughout the 19th century.