This picture is one of a number of works of art commissioned at the time the College was being built. The artist was approached by Norman Chester and Ian Little and visited the College while the Senior Common Room was being built. It was intended for the position in which it still hangs. It was painted in 1958–1959 at a cost of £1,700 and unveiled in June 1959. It is a view of the lake at Petworth House with bathers. It is inspired by Hitchens’ deep knowledge of the area where he lived and by the pictures of the park by J. M. W. Turner which can still be seen in Petworth House. Photographs show two significantly different preliminary stages which underlie the final painting. In 1970, with the artist’s permission, the original broad and ornate pink frame was replaced by the present narrow gilt moulding.