Mighty ancient oak near Ludlow collapses and dies

Thought by experts to be 900-1,000 years old, the oak on farmland near the town was one of nine recorded ancient oaks in Shropshire and its demise has prompted calls for more to be done nationally to preserve England’s oldest oaks - of which there are 195.

The Moor Park Oak, as it was called, was discovered to have collapsed by tree experts days ahead of a talk in Shrewsbury about ancient English oaks by a notable international speaker

Andy Gordon, who works across the region to compile an inventory of ancient trees for the Woodland Trust, had been hoping to take international tree expert Aljos Farjon to see the oak when he visited to give the talk next week.

Dr Gordon and fellow Shropshire tree expert Andrew Allott were checking on the tree when they made the discovery. It is believed that the oak, located in a wood on farmland which was once part of the Moor Park Estate, had collapsed at least three years ago.

“I went to look at it because Aljos was coming and I thought it was one he hadn’t seen,” said Dr Gordon, who lives in Shrewsbury.

“I first went on my own. I couldn’t find it, but was told by a local farmer that it had blown down a few years earlier. Ten days later I returned with Andrew, who had photographed the tree in 2011, and we found it collapsed.

“It was just shattering. We examined the fallen timbers and couldn’t find any living tissue, indicating it must have collapsed at least three years ago. This is happening to more and more oaks of that sort of vintage throughout the country.

Tragic

An oak is classified as ancient when its girth reaches a circumference of six metres, indicating an age of around 400 years old. The Moor Park Oak, a pedunculate or common oak, had measured 9.12 metres at its girth when standing.

Mr Allott added: “It’s absolutely tragic. It is a venerable giant that has fallen.

“There’s a national problem in that we’re losing too many of these really large veterans and nobody seems to know what to do about it. There’s an urgent need for experts in the field to come together to decide what should be done to preserve them.

“For centuries ancient oaks have been revered and looked after. We have failed to look after them and neglected our responsibilities to preserve them for future generations.”

Shropshire’s oldest oak is also one of the oldest in the UK. Recorded at Lydham Manor, near Bishop’s Castle, with a colossal girth measuring 12.88m.

It is thought to date back 1,200 years, pushing through the earth of Anglo-Saxon England before the reign of Alfred The Great.

The talk on ‘Ancient Oak in the English Landscape’ by Dr Farjon, honorary research associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will take place in the 026 Lecture Room of the University Centre Shrewsbury, in Frankwell, Shrewsbury, at 7.30pm on Tuesday.

Tickets for the event, organised by tree conservation group The Severn Tree Trust, are available though Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ancient-oaks-in-the-english-landscape-by-aljos-farjon-tickets-53313669621.