COLLEGE WATERMEADS 57 



miniature in itself, like the clump of beech-trees which 

 crown the hill beyond. Indeed, a representation of the 

 tree has found a place in two stained-glass windows in 

 the diocese of Winchester. One may be seen in the 

 historic church of St Thomas a Becket at Portsmouth, 

 the advowson of which living belongs to College ; and 

 the other in Prior Silksteade's Chapel, in the south 

 transept of the Cathedral. The latter window is dedi- 

 cated to the memory of Izaak Walton, who passed his 

 old age at Winchester, living with his daughter and 

 son-in-law in the Cathedral Close, and who eventually 

 died there during the great frost of 1683. l He must 

 often have wandered down Watermeads, rod in hand, 

 and doubtless caught many a fish in the swift stream 

 " full of great stores of trout." Walton's association 

 with Winchester could hardly have been more fittingly 

 represented than in the painted window of the Cathedral , 

 where we see the old fisherman resting under the willow- 

 tree by the water-side, engaged in the peaceful occupa- 

 tion of reading, with this motto inscribed beneath : 

 " Study to be quiet." Lower down the river, in the 

 water-meadows which adjoin the ancient Hospital of 

 St Cross, willow-trees are abundant. They line the 

 banks of the Itchen and of the water-courses which flow 

 from it. But nowhere will you see a specimen which 

 for picturesque appearance can be compared with the 

 willow of Watermeads. It stands alone, unique in 

 grace and beauty, without a rival, and beyond compare. 

 The shelter of the willow-tree affords a happy retreat 

 to many of the water-fowl that frequent the stream. 

 The banks of the river, too, are clothed with a dense 

 growth of reeds and tall grasses, and in summer-time of 

 1 See chap, xxiii. 



