This painting is among the largest that Pissarro is known to have painted in London during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1). These works mainly represent scenes in the area of Norwood (including 'Fox Hill, Upper Norwood'), where Pissarro stayed until June 1871.
This work depicts a scene that is little changed today. The painting conveys the atmosphere of an early spring day, with oak trees coming into leaf against a soft blue sky.
Technical analysis shows that the main outlines of the landscape were painted first and the figures added over the paint that had dried.
