Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
The Guardian
‘Ingrained in our heritage’: UK’s ancient oaks showcased in Tree of the Year contest
By Helena Horton Environment reporter,
8 hours ago
The Marton oak in Cheshire is thought to be the widest oak tree in the UK – and 1,200 years old. Photograph: Rob McBride/Woodland Trust
An oak tree shaped like an elephant and the oak with the widest girth in the UK have been shortlisted for the annual Tree of the Year competition.
The Woodland Trust runs the annual competition to raise awareness of the UK’s ancient and at-risk trees.
With its 2024 contest, the charity is campaigning to ensure more robust legal protection for the country’s most precious trees, and is showcasing ancient oaks as they are a beloved species and often live for more than 1,500 years.
Oaks, the trust says, support 2,300 different species of wildlife, and the UK has more ancient oaks than the rest of western Europe combined.
This year’s list contains the Marton oak in Cheshire, which boasts a gigantic 14.02-metre girth, thought to be the widest in the UK.
While 11 of the trees on the list were chosen by an expert panel, there is one public nomination: the Elephant oak at the Old Sloden inclosure in the New Forest.
This tree takes its name from its unusual shape, and was nominated by a supporter, Claire Sheppard, who said: “This is my favourite oak tree to photograph at Old Sloden inclosure, New Forest. It’s a pollard oak known as the Elephant oak due to its massive trunk. I hike for around 5km from Abbotswell car park to get there and back, and this wood always gives me goose bumps. It’s not the easiest place to reach and hence it’s always very quiet; I get a real sense of peace and solitude here.”
Dr Kate Lewthwaite, the citizen science manager at the Woodland Trust, said: “We chose the iconic oak because it captures people’s imaginations – from their leaves to their acorns, these trees are ingrained in our heritage – and the ancients are so impressive in terms of their sheer size and age. Some oaks that are alive today were already centuries old at the time of Queen Elizabeth I, or Charles Darwin.
“It’s humbling to think how many events these trees have lived through, and that reaching full maturity they can stand for hundreds of years as ancient trees – all the while continuing to provide vital habitat as they hollow and produce dead wood. Each individual oak is like a unique, miniature nature reserve. There are so many species that live and rely on them, and have evolved alongside them, it is incredible.”
Voting for the Woodland Trust’s 2024 Tree of the Year is open until 21 October via the Woodland Trust website , with a winner announced on 29 October.
Take a bough: the tree shortlist
Marton oak, Cheshire Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Approximate age: 1,200 years / Girth: 14.02 metres.
Bowthorpe oak, Lincolnshire English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 1000 years / Girth: 13.38 metres.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0