Editing Corpus Christi College, Oxford (section)

===Gardens===
[[File:UK-2014-Oxford-Corpus Christi College 01.jpg|thumb|right|View from Small Garden towards Front Quad|upright]]
Aspects of the evolution of the college's ornamental gardens (Grade II listed) have been documented since the late 16th century.<ref name="Register">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest |title=Corpus Christi, Oxford |url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/corpus-christi-oxford |date=January 2000 |publisher=(via Parks&Gardens) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725124138/https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/corpus-christi-oxford |archive-date=25 July 2019 |quote=[[Ralph Agas|Agas' map]] (1578) shows the 'Gardaine' containing trees planted regularly below the wall, and a smaller, rectangular, formally laid-out area adjacent to the east. The raised terrace in this area, constructed c 1623-4 (The Pelican ''[(1979-80), pp 20-29]'') against the City Wall, is shown in 1675 ([[David Loggan|Loggan]] ''[Map of Oxford]'') with an elaborate two-storey pavilion at the west end, a line of trees growing along the top, and two rows of shrubs growing on the level, open area to the north, parallel with the trees. A similar layout is shown in 1726, behind Front Quad with its central sundial and the newly-built Fellows' Building to the east, which retains the smaller enclosed area east of the terrace garden, shown formally laid out in 1733 (Williams ''[Oxonia Depicta, 1733]''). By 1814 (Ackerman ''[A History of the University of Oxford]'') most of the formal elements in the garden south of the Fellows' Building, including the internal divisions, had been removed and the east end of the City Wall lowered, leaving an open lawn partially bordered by the raised terrace to the south. }}</ref>{{efn|The main garden, as seen today, is situated on the land the founder acquired in 1515 from Merton College (where it had been the site of their Bachelor's Garden).<ref name="Register"/>{{sfn|Richardson|2018|pp=66-67}}}} By the turn of the 19th century, a series of strict, geometrical layouts had given way to more informal features, including a lawn in the main garden, bordered by a dense shrubbery.<ref name="Register"/>{{sfn|Richardson|2018|p=67}}

In their present form, as tended by David Leake since 1979, the gardens are considered some of the university's most unusual and exuberant.<ref name="Garth2015">{{cite news |last1=Garth |first1=John |title=Root and branch: John Garth meets the extraordinary creator of one of the most storied and unusual Oxford college gardens |url=http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/interviews/root-and-branch |work=www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk | date=16 March 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723102448/http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/interviews/root-and-branch |archive-date=23 July 2019 }}</ref> Described as [[Wildlife garden|'wild' garden]]s, the stated aim is to blend a "range of wild and cultivated flowers into a vivid yet harmonious landscape."<ref>{{cite web |title=Corpus Christi College Oxford - The Gardens |url=https://www.ccc.ox.ac.uk/The-Gardens/ |website=www.ccc.ox.ac.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723103531/https://www.ccc.ox.ac.uk/The-Gardens/ |archive-date=23 July 2019 }}</ref> Attention to detail marks even the most intimate of spaces, such as those around the 'small garden' linking the front quad to the main garden at the back of the college.{{sfn|Richardson|2018|p=64}}

The main garden is flanked on one side by the distinctive [[neoclassical architecture]] of the Fellows' Building, which is exuberantly bordered by ornamental shrubs and [[perennial]]s, overseen by climbing roses and wisteria.{{sfn|Richardson|2018|pp=66-67}} Across the lawn, a bank shaded by a dominant [[Fagus sylvatica#Cultivation|copper beech]] leads up to a vantage point on the old city wall (above [[Dead Man's Walk]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford City Wall - South Wall: Christ Church, with Bastions 20 & 21 |url=http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/city_wall/09_chch_meadow.html |website=www.oxfordhistory.org.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724164453/http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/city_wall/09_chch_meadow.html |archive-date=24 July 2019}}</ref>), where a line of three [[lime tree]]s traces the course of a terraced avenue that was originally raised in 1623.{{sfn|Richardson|2018|p=67}} The views from here across [[Christ Church Meadow, Oxford|Christ Church Meadow]] and into the gardens of neighbouring colleges suggest a "pleasant gardening outpost."<ref name="Lacey2001">{{cite news |last1=Lacey |first1=Stephen |title=A free-for-all in the quad |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3291693/A-free-for-all-in-the-quad.html |work=The Telegraph |date=9 July 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723111954/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3291693/A-free-for-all-in-the-quad.html |archive-date=23 July 2019 }}</ref>

The style of gardening is, in Leake's words, "much less formal than [in] most other colleges, but sympathetic to the atmosphere."<ref name="Beck2016"/> Accordingly, the library windows in the front quad are framed by seven [[bamboo]] plants.<ref name="Beck2016"/> [[Beekeeping]] echoes the founder's wish for the college to be a hive of activity.<ref name="Garth2015"/>{{efn|A surviving foxhole also references Richard Foxe in a more humane way than the fox that can be seen chained up in a yard in [[David Loggan]]'s bird's-eye view of the college engraved in 1675.{{sfn|Richardson|2018|p=67}}}}

Use of [[herbicide]]s and [[fertiliser]]s is avoided even on the main lawn, which characteristically is allowed to incorporate plants that have [[Wildflower|self-seeded]], in keeping with an overall wildlife-friendly approach (for example, spontaneous [[red valerian]] can provide a food plant for caterpillars of the [[hummingbird hawk-moth]]).<ref name="Beck2016">{{cite news |last1=Beck |first1=Caroline |title=Me and my garden: 'It's like paradise, surrounded by beautiful buildings and overlooking Christ Church meadow' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/23/how-garden-grow-david-leake-corpus-christi-oxford |work=The Guardian |date=23 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723110140/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/23/how-garden-grow-david-leake-corpus-christi-oxford |archive-date=23 July 2019 }}</ref>

Examples of [[exotic plants]] that have been [[Cultivar|cultivated]] include ''[[Campsis radicans]]'' (trumpet vine), ''[[Dracunculus vulgaris]]'' (dragon lily), ''[[Gunnera manicata]]'' (Brazilian giant-rhubarb), ''[[Philadelphus microphyllus]]'' (littleleaf mock-orange), and ''[[Zantedeschia aethiopica]]'' (arum lily).<ref name="Lacey2001"/> Trees include a [[Wollemi pine]] (a species rediscovered in Australia in 1994) and [[quince]] (whose fruit is given to college fellows and friends).<ref name="Garth2015"/>

The greenhouse was designed by [[Rick Mather]], the creator of the college's auditorium.<ref name="Garth2015"/>{{efn| The auditorium was built in what used to be the fellows' private garden, with its rooftop Handa Terrace providing a further viewing area for the remaining gardens and their surroundings.<ref name="Garth2015"/>}} Almost frameless, it presents itself as a display cabinet in which a variety of [[horticultural]] and other informal exhibits are watched over by a surreally attired [[mannequin]] named Madame Lulu.<ref name="Garth2015"/><ref name="Beck2016"/>