the site of an old wooden bridge, which then gave access to the grounds.
This is the bridge which still exists; it was built, apparently from
Wren's designs, under the superintendence of his pupil, Nicholas
Hawksmoor. More than a century now passed before further building
operations were undertaken. In 1825 the College employed Mr. Thomas
Rickman and his partner, Mr. H. Hutchinson, to prepare designs for a new
Court, with from 100 to 120 sets of rooms. This work was started in
1827, and completed in 1831. The covered bridge connecting the old and
new parts of the College was designed by Mr. Hutchinson; it is popularly
known as the "Bridge of Sighs." The style of this Court is Perpendicular
Gothic. The site was unsuited for building operations, consisting mostly
of washed and peaty soil; it had been known for generations as "the
fishponds close." The modern concrete foundations were then unknown,
and the plan adopted was to remove the peaty soil and to lay timber on
the underlying gravel. On this an enormous mass of brickwork, forming
vaulted cellars, was placed; this rises above the river level, and the
rooms are perfectly dry. The total cost of the building was L78,000,
most of which was provided by borrowing. The repayment, extending over a
number of years, involved considerable self-denial on the Fellows of the
College, their incomes being materially reduced for many years. Crossing
the covered bridge and passing down the cloisters of the New Court, we
enter the grounds by the centre gate; these extend right and left, being
bounded on the east by the Cam, and separated from the grounds of
Trinity by a ditch.

From the old, or Wren's, bridge over the Cam two parallel walks extend
along the front of the Court; according to tradition the broader and
higher was reserved for members of the College, the lower for College
servants. At one time an avenue of trees extended from the bridge to the
back gate, but the ravages of time have removed all but a few trees.

At the western end of the walk we have on the left the (private)
Fellows' garden, known as "The Wilderness," an old-world pleasance, left
as nearly as may be in a state of nature. Towards the end of the
eighteenth century the College employed the celebrated Mr. Lancelot
("capability") Brown to lay out the grounds and Wilderness. The
plantation in the latter was arranged so as to form a cathedral, with
nave, aisles, and transept, but here also old age and storms hav