Much of the western half of the tree has apparently collapsed since the 1933 measurement. In 1988 Alan Mitchell recorded 660cm girth - making it still the biggest oak found in Cornwall (so far). Seven steps lead up into the hollow interior.
An amazing ancient oak nestled in the front garden on a farm in Darley Ford. A true ancient tree for Cornwall and would have seen some grand changes within the area and within farming culture, if only it could talk! Do you know of anymore Darley Oaks in the area?
This oak is reputed to be at least 1000 years old and was first documented as a great tree in the early 18th Century. It has been a natural curiosity for generations. It is situated on land owned continuously from 12th century to the early part of the 20th century by the Dingle family, whose ancestors were contempories of Edward the Black Prince, first duke of Cornwall. In 1919 this part of the Estate was bought by Samuel Hoare, grandfather to the late Stuart Hoare whose wife and family continue to farm the land today. It stands in the farmhouse garden in the middle of the farm buildings and in about 1820 it was surrounded by a protective wall. In Harvey's 1727 book of the Parish of Linkinhorne, it is stated that its hollow section was 'capable of housing small pleasure parties'. Stuart Hoare had memories of tea parties held within the tree - a practice continued by his own children until have the tree collapsed in the 1980s.
The Darley Oak is reputed to be the first tree in the district to appear in bud and provides a haven for wildlife. Revered even before the present farmhouse was built in 1733, the oak has been the subject of much folklore over the years. It is sadi that anyone who passes through the hollow and circles it's girth will have their wishes answered. Claims for its healing properties include the cure of boils and various diseases, as well as its acorns being used as good luck charms during pregnancy. One of the Tree Council's 50 great trees of Britain chosen in 2002 to mark the Queen's Golden jubilee.
This is the oldest tree in Cornwall. It would have been 9m girth today had it not lost half of its hollow trunk that collapsed during a storm in the 1980’s. It stands in a slightly raised garden area in front of an old farmhouse in Darley Ford south of Launceston in Cornwall. The farm dates from 1770 so the tree pre-dates it by many centuries and was originally in the grounds of a house once owned by the Dingle family.
The remaining half of the tree is still very impressive with a measured girth of 6.5m. It has a huge craggy gnarled trunk completely hollowed out and large deadwood limbs piercing the leafy crown. It has a great collection of fungi, invertebrates and epiphytes. The retrenched crown still puts out good leaf cover and its bark is self-healing – growing around inside the hollow. Every few years the tree gives out a good show of acorns and many were potted to produce new seedlings, which can be donated for worthy conservation projects by Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum.
The earliest mention of the tree is in a Victorian publication called “Light from the west or a Cornish parochial visitor” from 1834. It shows a woodcut of the tree and records its height at 30 ft and its girth at 36 ft. There is also included a poem dedicated to the tree beginning “Giant of olden time!”
A later re-print of “The history of the parish of Linkinhorne” in 1876 included a footnote by the editor noting : “ in the plaisance of the village stands the great natural curiosity known as the Darley Oak . At the height of 3 feet from the ground it measures 36 feet in circumference. Being hollow and having convenient openings for ingress and egress, it is capable of housing small pleasure parties, which it often does in the season.”
In 1930 Edgar Thurston published “British and Foreign Trees and shrubs in Cornwall. He included the above quotation but added that the tree “had many excrescences” after the measurement. He then recorded a new measurement of 28ft at 5ft height.
Prior to the partial collapse the tree was completely hollow with two gaps in the trunk allowing people to pass inside. This wonderful tree was the subject of local folklore as it was claimed to have many healing properties and the ability to grant certain wishes if you passed through the hollow and walked around the girth of the tree on the encircling path.
Thurston’s measurement at 5ft height is the same as our standard height today of 1.5m - avoiding the flare of the base, bumps and root buttresses. The girth of 28ft converts to 8.56m in 1927 and this seems a sound basis for a historic recorded girth. If the trunk had stayed in place then it would conceivably have grown to 9m girth in the remaining 93 years. An estimate for the age range of the tree would be somewhere between 900 and 1000 years. It is a truly remarkable survivor possibly reaching back to Domesday and far older than any other living thing in the County.
Much of the western half of the tree has apparently collapsed since the 1933 measurement. In 1988 Alan Mitchell recorded 660cm girth - making it still the biggest oak found in Cornwall (so far). Seven steps lead up into the hollow interior.
An amazing ancient oak nestled in the front garden on a farm in Darley Ford. A true ancient tree for Cornwall and would have seen some grand changes within the area and within farming culture, if only it could talk! Do you know of anymore Darley Oaks in the area?
This oak is reputed to be at least 1000 years old and was first documented as a great tree in the early 18th Century. It has been a natural curiosity for generations. It is situated on land owned continuously from 12th century to the early part of the 20th century by the Dingle family, whose ancestors were contempories of Edward the Black Prince, first duke of Cornwall. In 1919 this part of the Estate was bought by Samuel Hoare, grandfather to the late Stuart Hoare whose wife and family continue to farm the land today. It stands in the farmhouse garden in the middle of the farm buildings and in about 1820 it was surrounded by a protective wall. In Harvey's 1727 book of the Parish of Linkinhorne, it is stated that its hollow section was 'capable of housing small pleasure parties'. Stuart Hoare had memories of tea parties held within the tree - a practice continued by his own children until have the tree collapsed in the 1980s. The Darley Oak is reputed to be the first tree in the district to appear in bud and provides a haven for wildlife. Revered even before the present farmhouse was built in 1733, the oak has been the subject of much folklore over the years. It is sadi that anyone who passes through the hollow and circles it's girth will have their wishes answered. Claims for its healing properties include the cure of boils and various diseases, as well as its acorns being used as good luck charms during pregnancy. One of the Tree Council's 50 great trees of Britain chosen in 2002 to mark the Queen's Golden jubilee.
This is the oldest tree in Cornwall. It would have been 9m girth today had it not lost half of its hollow trunk that collapsed during a storm in the 1980’s. It stands in a slightly raised garden area in front of an old farmhouse in Darley Ford south of Launceston in Cornwall. The farm dates from 1770 so the tree pre-dates it by many centuries and was originally in the grounds of a house once owned by the Dingle family. The remaining half of the tree is still very impressive with a measured girth of 6.5m. It has a huge craggy gnarled trunk completely hollowed out and large deadwood limbs piercing the leafy crown. It has a great collection of fungi, invertebrates and epiphytes. The retrenched crown still puts out good leaf cover and its bark is self-healing – growing around inside the hollow. Every few years the tree gives out a good show of acorns and many were potted to produce new seedlings, which can be donated for worthy conservation projects by Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum.
The earliest mention of the tree is in a Victorian publication called “Light from the west or a Cornish parochial visitor” from 1834. It shows a woodcut of the tree and records its height at 30 ft and its girth at 36 ft. There is also included a poem dedicated to the tree beginning “Giant of olden time!” A later re-print of “The history of the parish of Linkinhorne” in 1876 included a footnote by the editor noting : “ in the plaisance of the village stands the great natural curiosity known as the Darley Oak . At the height of 3 feet from the ground it measures 36 feet in circumference. Being hollow and having convenient openings for ingress and egress, it is capable of housing small pleasure parties, which it often does in the season.” In 1930 Edgar Thurston published “British and Foreign Trees and shrubs in Cornwall. He included the above quotation but added that the tree “had many excrescences” after the measurement. He then recorded a new measurement of 28ft at 5ft height.
Prior to the partial collapse the tree was completely hollow with two gaps in the trunk allowing people to pass inside. This wonderful tree was the subject of local folklore as it was claimed to have many healing properties and the ability to grant certain wishes if you passed through the hollow and walked around the girth of the tree on the encircling path. Thurston’s measurement at 5ft height is the same as our standard height today of 1.5m - avoiding the flare of the base, bumps and root buttresses. The girth of 28ft converts to 8.56m in 1927 and this seems a sound basis for a historic recorded girth. If the trunk had stayed in place then it would conceivably have grown to 9m girth in the remaining 93 years. An estimate for the age range of the tree would be somewhere between 900 and 1000 years. It is a truly remarkable survivor possibly reaching back to Domesday and far older than any other living thing in the County.