English Oak (Quercus robur)

This beautiful oak tree is a real veteran. Its trunk measures at least eight or nine feet in circumference so it must be four or five hundred years old. We hope it will live a few more centuries and dread the time should something happen to it before we are pushing up the daisies! It is situated in the paddock just above the farmyard and welcomes any visitor to the farm.

The oak was once sacred in this country and the Druids used to cut mistletoe from its branches with a golden knife. From then on the tree became very special to the British. Its wood is extremely hard and durable and has been used for the frames of houses and ships. So many oak trees were felled for shipbuilding during the Elizabethan era that laws were passed to protect the tree and many more were planted some of which remain today. The acorns were used for feeding pigs.

A very foggy frosty start to the day but the sun did not let us down and it has been glorious again.