Gilbert Spencer lived in Garsington, Oxfordshire, from 1923-1927. He lodged in the village of Garsington, near Oxford, after an invitation from Lady Ottoline Morrell, who had met him at the Goupil Gallery in 1923. Within weeks he had moved in to lodgings at Blenheim cottages and was on the teaching staff of the Ruskin School of Art where his friend Sydney Carlne was master and John Nash was a fellow teacher.
This was a strong period for Spencer's work and a time when he developed his speciality for farm scenes. From 1922-1932 his principal exhibition venue was William Marchan't Goupil Gallery in London. The gallery held group exhibitions twice a year and gave him a joint show with Mark Gertler and John Nash in 1926.
The first owner of 'The Sheep Pen' was Lord Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (1863-1931), the brother of Ottoline Morrell and a Nottingham MP. The National Portrait Gallery has a 1930 snapshot by Ottoline showing Bemtinck, Duncan Grant, Phlip Morrell, Raymond Mortimer amd Gilbert Spencer all together.