Turner was an eye-witness of the fire which destroyed the old Houses of Parliament on the night of 16 October 1834, and he made a number of slight pencil sketches on the spot (T.B.CCLXXXIV). In addition, a sketchbook in the Turner Bequest (CCLXXXIII) contains nine watercolour studies of the scene (see Nos.457-460). It has been suggested that these too were executed on the spot, though it would perhaps be more consistent with Turner's normal practice if he had done them from memory, or on the basis of pencil outlines, immediately on returning home. The large, more finished watercolour was then worked up from this material, though it is not known whether Turner envisaged selling or exhibiting it. It remained in his studio. See also No.512. A vignette showing the fire, seen under one of the arches of Westminster Bridge, was engraved by J. T. Willmore in 1835 for the Keepsake (Rawlinson No.332).