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Forest's famous trees

The Major Oak in Nottinghamshire's Sherwood Forest is justly famous, both for its size and mythological associations with Robin Hood.

Every year visitors flock to the tree and the nearby Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre in their thousands, but how many of them, I wonder, are aware of the many other notable oaks in the forest?

What about, for instance, the Greendale Oak, or the Seven Sisters Oak, or, even more curious, who now remembers anything of the oak known as Robin Hood's Larder?

Recently published is a new book by Newark author Joseph Bass entitled Famous Trees of Robin Hood's Forest which provides the most complete record to date of the forest's named trees and the historical associations which go with them.

Accounts of the forest trees have been published before, but what is special about Mr Bass's book is the way he brings up to date the personal accounts of many earlier travellers such as Daniel Defoe, Washington Irving and William Howitt.

As he takes us on a walking and cycling tour of Sherwood the extraordinary appeal of the ancient oaks is brought vividly to life.

The forest, writes Mr Bass, still exerts a magical hold where one can "escape the sameness of modern life. Gadgets may do wonders in exciting the mind, but man has yet to devise something to sponge away all craving and to cleanse soiled thoughts....

The healing power of the trees has not been diminished."

Sherwood today, with its areas of scrub, pasture, and intermittent woodland, may hardly seem to warrant the title forest, but as Mr Bass points out, in its heyday it was considered one of the finest tracts of woodland in all England.

A survey of 1609 found 49,909 mature oak trees in Sherwood and while by the late 18th Century, a quarter of these had been lost, many of the most significant trees survived to become prized possessions of the great dukery houses of Welbeck, Rufford, Newstead and Thoresby.

It is these trees which form the starting point for Mr Bass's narrative as he takes us through the dreamworld of Robin Hood's forest where historical fact is inexorably caught up in romantic legend.

Mention is made, for example, of the tree known as Robin Hood's Larder (or The Shambles Oak), now decayed, which was a hollow oak with hooks inside.

Tradition has it that the hooks were used by Robin Hood to hang the sides of venison he plundered from the forest.

The tree would certainly have made a fair-sized pantry, but unfortunately it is not possible to determine whether it was old enough to have been around in Robin's day - it was set on fire by picnickers in 1913 and finally blown down in 1962.

Another hollow tree with Robin Hood associations which is still very much with us today is the Major Oak near Edwinstowe. The Major Oak is reputedly the largest oak tree in England and its statistics are impressive.

At ground level the bole measures 90ft in circumference and at a height of 5ft the trunk is 40ft round.

The giant boughs (now in constant danger of collapsing under their own weight and supported by iron chains and posts) once covered an area of 200 square yards.

Until comparatively recently it was possible to enter the hollow trunk, but the passage of endless feet compacted the ground so much that the roots were becoming starved of moisture and the tree was dying.

It has been calculated, however, that the gash in the trunk is large enough to accommodate 12 men standing and legendary tales have been told of Robin Hood outwitting his pursuers by taking refuge there.

Many people assume that the Major Oak takes its name from its great size, but in fact it is named after Major Hayman Rooke, a noted local antiquary, who first described it in 1799.

A few years earlier in 1790 Rooke produced a book entitled Descriptions and Sketches of Some Remarkable Oaks in the Park at Welbeck which remains a primary source for those interested in Nottinghamshire's noble oak trees.

One of the trees described by Rooke is the Greendale Oak, his engraving of which is reproduced here.

Although sadly no longer surviving, in its heyday the Greendale Oak was even larger than the Major Oak - so large in fact that in 1724, the 1st Duke of Portland was able to win an after-dinner bet that he would be able to drive a coach and six right through it.

The tree was duly hollowed out and the bet won, and in 1790 Hayman Rooke recorded the dimensions of the arch as 10ft 3ins high by 6ft 3ins wide.

Sadly, however, the Duke's folly dealt the tree a fatal blow. Even as Rooke wrote, the Greendale Oak was dying and had to be supported on crutches.

It was a remarkably slow decay and only in the past few years has the crumpled remains finally been removed from Welbeck's southern prospect.

The loss of such legendary oaks from the forest is undoubtedly sad, but elsewhere there are instances of ancient trees which have rejuvenated themselves.

The oak known as 'The Duke's Walking Stick' in the park at Welbeck (named because of its unusually tall straight trunk devoid of branches) has self-seeded and produced a 'Young Walking Stick' currently rising to match its predecessor.

On the edge of Clipstone Forest beside the A6075, the so-called Parliament Oak now survives as a mature offshoot from the bole of the original. In his book, Mr Bass reproduces now and then views of the Parliament Oak and recounts the singular legend which gave the tree its name.

It all centres around King John who, in the 13th Century, was a frequent visitor to Sherwood residing at the royal hunting lodge in Clipstone whose remains are now known as King John's Palace.

In 1212, while hunting in the forest, the king was informed of a revolt among the Welsh and, anxious to disrupt his sport as little as possible, he hastily summoned a parliament to meet under this tree.

The parliament resolved to execute 28 Welsh hostages being held at Nottingham Castle. They were hanged in a row from the castle ramparts after which, it is said, John returned to Clipstone to dine and finish his sport.

Copies of Joseph Bass's book Famous Trees of Robin Hood's Forest which contains the full story of this and many other remarkable legends, are available direct from him at 166 Grange Road, Newark, NG24 4PP, priced £5.50.

ABOVE LEFT: The Shambles Oak, pictured in the early years of this century.

ABOVE RIGHT: The Greendale Oak in the park at Welbeck pictured in 1790 by the noted local antiquary Major Hayman Rooke.

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