STATE AND PROSPECTS OF ARBORICULTURE IN HAMPSHIRE. 523 
Test, leading to Mottisfont Abbey pleasure grounds, some half a 
mile distant. It has the large circumference of 31 ft. 6 in. at 43 ft. 
up. On the south side, at 9 ft. up, it branches into six large but 
hollow limbs, where, owing to the swell of the branches, the 
circumference is much larger. The diameter of the spread of 
branches from north to south is 22 yds., and the sheer height is 
27 ft. The young branches still put out their leaves and bear 
acorns with all the freshness of youth. No doubt the top had 
been pollarded at some distant date, as I find by a map of 1805 
that the meadow where it stands is called ‘ Hollow Pollard 
Meadow,” and if we add the word “oak,” it becomes “ Hollow 
Pollard Oak Meadow.” The entrance to the interior is on the 
north side, and is 3 ft. 7 in. high, 1 ft. 8 in. wide, and is said to 
be decreasing in size, as the bark is forming round the edges of 
the aperture, which presents a smooth surface, making it easy of 
entrance. The inside diameters are, at the ground, 9 ft. by 9 ft. ; 
and at 43 ft. up, 7 ft. by 7 ft. This is the smallest diameter of 
the hollow trunk. The larger diameter would give an area of 
63 square ft., and the smaller area would be 38 square ft., which 
might afford standing room for twenty persons. The tree, if 
sound, would contain 576 ft. of timber. Viewed from a distance 
it has a short, squat appearance ; but no doubt at one time it had 
a different look. It is, however, probable that it has retained its 
present state for centuries past, and may for centuries to come, 
for it shows no sign of decay; but as to its age or history I can 
find no records. Perhaps the monks of the adjoining abbey held 
high jinks here, or carried the faggots from the top to light their 
fires. I have found no accounts of its measurement further back 
than 1858, when it had a girth of 313 ft., the same as now. It 
grows in the alluvium formed by the river Test, and where the 
chalk dips under it in the valley. 
To the south-east of the monument in Hurstbourne Park (Lord 
Portsmouth), near Whitchurch, in the low ground, and on the 
boundary between the parishes of Hurstbourne Priors and Whit- 
church, stands “ Seven Yards Oak.” This is an old tree, showing 
signs of decay, and although apparently sound in the trunk, it 
does not look so healthy as the “ Oakley Oak,” at Mottisfont, to 
which it stands second in girth. It is not known how long it has 
borne the name, ‘‘Seven Yards,” but 21 ft. is still the cireumfer- 
ence ; the soil is clay, subsoil chalk. After the above specimens, 
several may dispute the claim for the third place in the notable 
