Tom Gate is the bell tower (Tom Tower) at Christ Church, Oxford. Located on St Aldates. It forms the main entrance to Tom Quad viewable through the entrance arch. This iconic structure was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built 1681-82. Knighton-Hammond set himself up across St Aldates in Pembroke Square to paint this watercolour. The artist was making trips back to England and we know he had a painting expedition to Oxford in August 1924, when it was likely that this work was undertaken. The emblematic architecture of Oxford presented amazing opportunities for Knighton-Hammond with his skills in depicting buildings with linear perspective, the rendition of the masonry façade and the Impressionist techniques he was learning whilst working on the Continent. This is evident here with the fluidity of brushwork and not working slavishly representing detail but concentrating on the overall effect. The quickly applied brushstrokes in the depiction of the busy figures, horse and trap and car giving the painterly illusion of movement and spontaneity. Knighton-Hammond had an instinctive feeling for light and colour and with watercolour he was able to exploit its special ability to achieve this.