Major Oak

The Major Oak is a large English Oak (Quercus robur) near the village of Edwinstowe in the midst of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire,England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a girth of 33 feet (10 metres), and is about 800–1000 years old. In a 2002 survey, it was voted “Britain’s favourite tree”. During 2014 it was voted 'England's Tree of the Year' by a public poll by the Woodland Trust, receiving 18% of the votes.

It receives its present name from Major Hayman Rooke's description of it during 1790.

There are several theories concerning why it became so huge and oddly shaped:

• The Major Oak may be several trees that fused together as saplings.
• The tree was possibly pollarded, a system of tree management that enabled foresters to grow more than one crop of timber from a single tree causing the trunk to grow large and thick. However, there is only limited evidence for this theory as none of the other trees in the surrounding area were pollarded.

Since the 18th century its massive limbs have been supported partially by an elaborate system of scaffolding.

During February 1998, a local company took cuttings from the Major Oak and began cultivating clones of the famous tree with the intention of sending saplings to be planted in major cities around the world. Also during 1998, a Mansfield resident was cautioned by the Nottinghamshire Police for selling alleged Major Oak acorns (including a certificate of authenticity) to unsuspectingAmericans via an Internet-based mail-order company. On 1 October 2002, there was another news story about someone illegally selling acorns from the Major Oak on an Internet-based auction website.

During 2003, in Dorset a plantation was started of 260 saplings grown from acorns of the Major Oak. The purpose was to provide publicity for an Internet-based study of the Major Oak, its history, photographic record, variation in size and leafing of the saplings, comparison of their DNA, and an eventual public amenity.

The Major Oak was featured on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the Midlands.