 A more likely explanation is that a wedge of stone cemented into the ball as part of a repair job became loose and fell out.Clare's bridge connects Old Court to Memorial Court, which was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and dedicated in 1926.Memorial Court was extended in the 1950s by the construction of Thirkill Court, and was later divided into two parts when the College's Forbes Mellon Library was constructed in the centre of Memorial Court; the new courtyard created in the west was renamed Ashby Court.<ref></ref>

A new court, Lerner Court, designed by architects van Heyningen and Haward, was opened in January 2008.<ref></ref> It occupies the last piece of undeveloped land in the central area of the College next to Memorial Court and houses a lecture theatre, catering, fellows offices, residential accommodation and a student laundry.