42 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. 



the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Henry III., as being bought 

 with " sorells " and " cailloels " from " John the Fruiterer of 

 London." * 



Besides these fruits, which appear to have been common, 

 there were a few choicer sorts/ such as cherries, mulberries, 

 medlars, and even peaches. If proof were needed that this latter 

 fruit was to be had in England, we have it in the fact that King 

 John, at Newark, in the midst of his despair and disappointment, 

 hastened his end by a surfeit of peaches and ale.t 



The various accounts which have been quoted, although 

 tedious, from their sameness, are nearly the only trustworthy 

 sources of information about the fruits and gardens of this 

 period. To supply such large quantities of fruit, there must 

 have been extensive orchards. It is impossible to imagine that 

 the fruiterer to the king procured the thousands of apples and 

 pears required for his royal master, from France, although a 

 few may have come from abroad. By the early part of the 

 fourteenth century, many fine and old-established gardens and 

 orchards must have existed in this country, and were being 

 cultivated, not by the religious orders only, but under many 

 secular owners of land. Gardens were being made around the 

 various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge then coming into 

 existence. Trinity Hall, Cambridge, had a good garden, with 

 vines and "herbaria," within a short time of its foundation, 

 and Peterhouse, a few years earlier. The gardens round 

 London have already been noticed ; something further about 

 them might be gained by searching old leases. The following 

 sample gives some idea of the number of gardens in one part of 

 London. It is a lease, dated 1375, J for "A garden situate in 

 Tower Ward, near the city wall, which John Seoh lately held : 

 being between the garden which Geoffery Puppe holds on the 

 North side, and the garden which William Lambourne holds on 

 the South." There is no better proof of the great increase in 



* Exchequer Q. R. Ancient Miscell. Wardrobe and Household Account, 

 R.O. 



\ Chronicle of Roger of Wendover. 

 t Letter Book. H. F. XIII. 49 Ed. III. 



