XXIII. 



THE CROUCH OAK. 



THE old Crouch Oak on Walford Green is 

 one of the sights of Surrey. It raises its 

 gnarled and hollow trunk in the centre of 

 the Ploy-Field, an ancient common meadow, 

 and though decayed in its heart, is reckoned 

 still among the principal bounds of Ringmer 

 Forest. Its girth at the height of a man's 

 arms is over twenty feet. Beneath its 

 spreading branches stands an upright stone 

 of immemorial antiquity, which only the 

 righteous wrath of a local archaeologist 

 succeeded in preserving a few years since 

 from the modern desecration of a Jubilee 

 inscription. This close combination of 

 sacred tree and sacred stone is frequent 

 176 



