ff.67-9 and 71-4 of the 'North of England' sketchbook (No.23) have pencil studies of Harewood; this watercolour is clearly based on that on f.72. The inside front cover of the book is inscribed with a list of commissions including:
Mr Lacells Harwood Castle L
Mr Lacelles Harwood Castle L
Hon Mr Lacelles Kirkstall L

The two views of Harewood Castle, of which this is one, are at Harewood; that of Kirkstall, perhaps the best preserved of all Turner's topographical views of this period, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Finberg (1961, p.45) assumed that whereas Turner’s ‘Hon Mr Lacelles' refers to Edward Lascelles, his ‘Mr Lacelles' is Edward's younger brother Henry, afterwards second Earl of Harewood. The letter ‘L’ stands for ‘Large'.