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The grand old oak of Shotover

From the The Oxford Times, first published Thursday 27th Jul 2006.

Experts have been drawn to Shotover Country Park by an oak which they say is 400 years old, writes HELEN PEACOCKE

The ancient Shotover Oak with its gnarled and twisted branches, so admired by regular visitors to Shotover Country Park, may be much older than first thought.

The tree was said to be about 250 years old but Jill Butler, Conservation Policy Officer of the Woodland Trust, who described it as a "fantastic old pollard", believes that the tree may date back more than 400 years to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I when Shotover was a royal forest supplying timber for the nation's shipbuilders and venison for the residents of Windsor Castle.

Its true age was discovered when Jill and a group of tree experts, among them Ted Green, who founded the UK's Ancient Tree Forum and looks after the Queen's oaks at Windsor, and woodland archaeologist Dick Greenaway, met members of Shotover Wildlife, which researches and communicates the importance of Shotover as a special area for wildlife diversity. They gathered in support of an initiative to record the oldest trees on Shotover Hill.

The revised age of the oak was calculated using the most up-to-date methods, which included an analysis of the shape of the tree and Shotover Wildlife's own research on local oaks.

Ivan Wright, chairman of Shotover Wildlife, explained that local conditions determine the size and speed that a tree will grow.

"At the top of the hill, the soil is sandy and acid. It's also full of good nutrients, whereas Brasenose Wood at the bottom of the hill has a clay soil which is not as rich. This means that you can't go on trunk dimensions alone as trees on the top of the hill grow very well indeed as they don't have to struggle with clay conditions."

Measuring the girth of the oak and adjusting its size to local conditions gave it an original estimated age of 250 years. However, this gave no allowance for pollarding. This practice, which dates back to medieval times, prolongs the life of any tree by ridding it of branches which will eventually split and break off, resulting in irrecoverable damage.

Pollarding ensures a regular supply of timber without having to fell the tree. It entails cutting off its main branches to allow the crown to begin again with a new crop of branches that grow from under the bark rather than from within the tree, often forming a thickened base where the shoot meets the trunk.

Over a number of years, a noticeably swollen pollard head or boil forms where new shoots spring up each year. By encouraging new growth above the height of grazing animals, pollarding keeps the tree vigorous and prolongs its life considerably.

It is believed that the Shotover Oak was pollarded not once, but possibly twice during its long lifetime, so adding at least 30 per cent to its age. Ivan Wright says this oak is so healthy it could easily live a thousand years. At the moment, there are more than a hundred oak trees of that age in the UK.

The tree experts were also impressed by one huge old cherry tree which may also be of national importance. While cherry trees don't grow to anything like the age of oaks, this one, which is thought to be 100 to 150 years old, is considered quite exceptional, as are many of the Shotover trees.

Ted Green was particularly excited by the finds and said: "It's the large number of eccentric trees that makes Shotover so interesting."

Andy Heaver, co-leader of Shotover Wildlife's Tree Team, said: "The enthusiasm of these national specialists reminds us that the citizens of Oxford should be immensely proud of their tree heritage."

Dick Greenaway, who fondly recalled his own childhood memories of Shotover, explained how the oaks were an integral part of a working' landscape and supported the livelihoods of generations of artisans and woodland craftsmen.

Ivan Wright said that Shotover Wildlife is always looking for local people who feel the same way about these trees as the experts do and who may know of trees around the country park that have also enjoyed a long life.

"We are keen to hear from anyone with an interest and who would like to get involved in exploring the fantastic wealth of old trees in the locality."

Membership is open to anyone who makes an active contribution. Members receive a bi-monthly bulletin and have access to reference books and reports, as well as laboratory and field equipment.

For further information contact Ivan on ivan@shotover-wildlife.fsnet.co.uk or go to the www.shotover-wildlife.org.uk website.

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