232 COLLEGE GARDENS 



WORCESTER COLLEGE. The gardens on the south side of the 

 College buildings as far as the river at Hythe Bridge, and 

 extending north-west along the river, were purchased in 1741. 

 In 1788 the land now occupied by the canal and towing-path 

 from the north end of the College field to Hythe Bridge was 

 sold to the Canal Company. 



The pond was made apparently shortly before 1817, and 

 was stocked with nineteen shillingsworth of fish on Nov. 7, 

 1817, and also with "tench for lake," April 16, 1818, and 

 Dec. 4, 1818, at 2s. and 55. 



From 1817101822, a lot of planting, lay ing of turf, and making 

 of walks was done, and an item in the accounts, " carriage of 

 beeches," may have included the big Copper Beech and also 

 the Beech in the Fellows' Garden ; and thus, as Mr. F. S. 

 Lys, to whom we are indebted for this information, has 

 suggested, we have a probable clue to the age of the trees. 



The old Apple-tree, 45 ft. in height and 5 ft. 7 in. in girth, 

 is, so far as we know, the largest in Oxford. The Tulip 

 Tree near by, girthing 4 ft. 9 in., was planted by G. Bell when 

 Bursar about 1860 (F. J. L.). 



The finest trees are undoubtedly the Ailanthus ; the male 

 tree has a fine tapering trunk 9 ft. in girth, and the female 

 is somewhat smaller. Suckers from the former, as in the 

 Botanic Garden, have come up at a distance of 30 yds. A 

 third Ailanthus, which stood near the Copper Beech on the 

 " Stage," where many an open-air play has been performed, 

 has just been felled. We counted 84 annual rings, and noted 

 that the growth of the tree received a check forty years ago. 

 Other noteworthy trees are the Horse-chestnuts, girth n ft., 

 and a Plane 12 ft. in girth. The largest Box has a diameter 

 of 8 in. for a short length. A Walnut in the south-west 

 corner of the ^garden measures TO ft. round. 



Winding walks lead along the margin of the informal lawn 

 to the lake, upon the margin of which grows a fine Horse- 

 chestnut whose large branches stretch out over the water. Near 



