Oxford college thinking ahead

[Schnitte]

On this page, part of the web presence of the Long Now Foundation (a very interesting idea btw, I think), I found a text written by computing pioneer Danny Hillis in (0)1995. Excerpt:

I think of the oak beams in the ceiling of College Hall at New College, Oxford. Last century, when the beams needed replacing, carpenters used oak trees that had been planted in 1386 when the dining hall was first built. The 14th-century builder had planted the trees in anticipation of the time, hundreds of years in the future, when the beams would need replacing.

This seems to imply that the founders of the college consciously had the trees planted because they knew the ceiling would need replacing the beams centuries later, and that their intention was that their successors would use those very beams that had been planted for exactly this purpose hundreds of years before.

It’s a fascinating thought, but OTOH it could just be that the 19th century carpenters thought it would be a nice gag if they used trees just as aold as the ceiling they were about to repair, so they searched for a forest that had been planted in 1386 and cut it down.

So what? The text clearly suggests that there was conscious planning involved, but being a pessimist and misanthrop I don’t credit mankind with that much foresight (and the devotion to preserve those trees throughout the centuries for the purpose they were intended for). Anyone knows more?

[JeffB]

It appears to be a bit of Oxford mythology. According to an archivist at New College, Oxford,

In 1862, the senior fellow was visiting College estates on `progress’, i.e., an annual review of College property, which goes on to this day (performed by the Warden). Visiting forests in Akeley and Great Horwood, Buckinghamshire (forests which the College had owned since 1441), he had the largest oaks cut down and used to make new beams for the ceiling.

It is not the case that these oaks were kept for the express purpose of replacing the Hall ceiling. It is standard woodland management to grow stands of mixed broadleaf trees e.g., oaks, interplanted with hazel and ash. The hazel and ash are coppiced approximately every 20-25 years to yield poles. The oaks, however, are left to grow on and eventally, after 150 years or more, they yield large pieces for major construction work such as beams, knees etc.

[Schnitte]

Thanks a lot! This covers exactly what I was looking for.