British Oak Trees & Their History

The oak is Great Britain’s best-known tree and certainly the nation’s favourite. There are more oak trees in Great Britain than any other tree. It is one of the reasons why England “ruled the waves”; HMS Victory was constructed from over 6,000 oak trees and the song “Hearts of Oak” is the official march of Great Britain’s Royal Navy. This was good news for oak trees; we couldn’t plant enough of them. One naval officer called Colonel Thomas Jones planted almost a hundred thousand of them.

A 12,000-year history

Oaks have been common to these islands since the end of the last Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago. An oak tree can live for over 1,000 years and can grow over 30 metres tall; we mention some famous old oak trees below. Oak has also been a focus of several religions: Druids would enact pagan rites in oak groves; it is traditional for couples to marry in the shade of an oak tree; Yule Logs are made from oak branches; and many people carry acorns believing them to be lucky charms.

Properties and uses of oak

Oak timber has some remarkable properties. It is a dense wood with a physical density of 0.75 g/cm³ which gives it high strength and hardness. Many oaks are rich in tannins making them highly resistant to insect attack and fungi. These properties make oak the timber of choice for construction, particularly for architectural load-bearing beams and flooring. But oak is used for many other purposes too, particularly in winemaking and distilling. Oak barrels add flavour and texture to wines and whisky, with different kinds of oak associated with different flavours. Oak is used to make Japanese drums and other musical instruments; oak bark and acorns are said to have medicinal properties, and oak galls were traditionally used to make long-lasting inks.

Oak pollination – females prefer pollen from distant trees

Oaks prefer long-distance pollination. Although oak trees are monoecious, which means they have both female and male flowers on the same tree, the female oak flowers are fussy about where the male pollen they fertilise with comes from. The pollen is carried by the wind, so pollen grains from local trees are far more abundant than pollen from distant trees, but the female flowers much prefer pollen from distant trees and reject pollen from local trees.

Oaks of Great Britain

Worldwide there are around 600 species of oak, genus Quercus, all native to the northern hemisphere, but of these just two species are native to Great Britain and three other non-native oaks are commonly found in these islands. Below you will find a detailed guide to these wonderful trees that will help you identify them, but first, we will mention examples of famous ancient oaks you can visit some of which are thought to be around 2,000 years old.

Famous British oaks

There are many ancient oaks to be found in Great Britain, and one of the best places to see an extensive collection of them is Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Created originally as a hunting place for King Henry I and left untouched since then, the 120-acre High Park has more ancient oaks than any other site in England. In total, there are sixty of them with several having diameters of around 9 metres.

Some ancient oaks, however, have found their way into legend. Here are a few you should really make a point of visiting.

The Major Oak

By Dadulinka – https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29097712

Estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old, The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire is said to have been used as a shelter for Robin Hood. Its girth is 10 metres and it has a 28-metre canopy. Today its branches are kept aloft by a system of scaffolding. At one time you could buy its acorns (illegally) on eBay.

The reason for its strange shape may be because it formed from several saplings that fused together.

Bowthorpe Oak

By Robin Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13385191

The Bowthorpe Oak in Lincolnshire is over 1,000 years old, making it one of the oldest oak trees in England.  Its hollow trunk is fitted with seats and has been used as a dining room. It has a 12.5-metre girth and it is quoted in the Guinness Book of Records.

Gog and Magog

These two ancient oak trees grow at the bottom of Glastonbury Tor, Somerset.  Known as the Oaks of Avalon as they were considered a traditional entry place. They are thought to be 2,000 years old, the oldest oaks we know of. Sadly Gog, the far one in the picture, was damaged by fire in April 2017, though the fire didn’t spread to Magog. The names Gog and Magog come from a legendary race of giants, all of which were slaughtered by Brutus – apart from Gog and Magog.

Birnam Oak

The Birnam Oak at Perth and Kinross, Scotland is a Sessile oak. In legend, it is known as Macbeth’s Oak and Birnam Wood features in William Shakespeare’s play. It has a 5.5-metre trunk.