The placard reads... The Allerton Oak. 1000 years ago, Allerton did not possess a court house, and it's believed that the sittings of the Hundred Court were held under the spreading branches of this tree.
A division of a coutry in England suppose to have originally contained a hundred families. Hundred Court is a court held for all the inhabitants of a hundred.
Recently, this only 5.5 m circumference ancient oak was shortlisted for 'Tree of the year' as shown on a BBC website. "More than 1000 years old" as also claimed in the captions of two photographs with this record, is complete nonsense. No oak with these modest dimensions can be that old. It is only barely possible that this country's very largest oaks at 11-12 m girth have attained such an age, but there is no evidence. Many people still have a belief in the magic of 1000 years it seems.
The BBC website did a lovely piece about this tree. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-29802622
Full of historic images and stories about this tree.
The tree was remeasured by Brenda Cameron and Andrew Scott on 2 October 2024. The girth at 0.50m is 7.47m not 5.5m as shown on the ATI.
The original girth estimate of 5.5m was given we believe by Alan Mitchell during his visit in 1984 and seems never to have been properly measured, then or since. Our visit yesterday was with the Friends of Calderstones Park who allowed us to open the enclosure to remeasure the tree. Given the large openings and hollowing, it is doubtful whether the girth has changed very much in centuries. Alan Mitchell identified the tree as Q petraea but this is recorded on the Tree Register as Q x rosacea because of the short stalks on the acorns and the foliage.
The placard reads... The Allerton Oak. 1000 years ago, Allerton did not possess a court house, and it's believed that the sittings of the Hundred Court were held under the spreading branches of this tree. A division of a coutry in England suppose to have originally contained a hundred families. Hundred Court is a court held for all the inhabitants of a hundred.
Recently, this only 5.5 m circumference ancient oak was shortlisted for 'Tree of the year' as shown on a BBC website. "More than 1000 years old" as also claimed in the captions of two photographs with this record, is complete nonsense. No oak with these modest dimensions can be that old. It is only barely possible that this country's very largest oaks at 11-12 m girth have attained such an age, but there is no evidence. Many people still have a belief in the magic of 1000 years it seems.
The BBC website did a lovely piece about this tree. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-29802622 Full of historic images and stories about this tree.
The tree was remeasured by Brenda Cameron and Andrew Scott on 2 October 2024. The girth at 0.50m is 7.47m not 5.5m as shown on the ATI.
The original girth estimate of 5.5m was given we believe by Alan Mitchell during his visit in 1984 and seems never to have been properly measured, then or since. Our visit yesterday was with the Friends of Calderstones Park who allowed us to open the enclosure to remeasure the tree. Given the large openings and hollowing, it is doubtful whether the girth has changed very much in centuries. Alan Mitchell identified the tree as Q petraea but this is recorded on the Tree Register as Q x rosacea because of the short stalks on the acorns and the foliage.