Dozen ‘magnificent oaks’ in running for UK's Tree of the Year competition

A dozen “magnificent oaks” have been chosen for the shortlist for this year’s Tree of the Year contest, with the public now able to vote for their favourite.

A tree that sheltered 19th century children’s tea parties, the UK’s widest oak and one which is shaped like an elephant are among those selected for the public vote in the annual competition.

The Woodland Trust said 11 trees on the theme of magnificent oaks had been chosen by a panel of tree experts, along with one nominated by members of the public via social media.

They include oaks which are over a thousand years old, many with huge girths, individuals sporting ancient graffiti and a wide array of wildlife, hanging on in Sitka spruce plantations or threatened with felling for a bypass.

Bowthorpe Oak in Lincolnshire (Woodland Trust/PA) PA Media

According to the charity, oaks can live more than 1,500 years and support 2,300 different species of wildlife, and the UK boasts more ancient oaks than the rest of Western Europe combined.

As the Woodland Trust is campaigning for more robust legal protections for the country’s most valuable trees, the charity said it was an obvious choice to select oaks – which are “ingrained in our heritage” – to make up the shortlist.

As in previous years, the winning tree in the poll, which is open until October 21, will go forward to compete in the European Tree of the Year contest early next year.

Dr Kate Lewthwaite, citizen science manager at the Woodland Trust, said: “We chose the iconic oak because it captures people’s imaginations – from their leaves to their acorns, these trees are ingrained in our heritage – and the ancients are so impressive in terms of their sheer size and age.

Queen Elizabeth I Oak (Woodland Trust/PA) PA Media

“Some oaks that are alive today were already centuries old at the time of Queen Elizabeth I, or Charles Darwin.

“It’s humbling to think how many events these trees have lived through, and that reaching full maturity they can stand for hundreds of years as ancient trees – all the while continuing to provide vital habitat as they hollow and produce dead wood,” she said.

The Woodland Trust is warning that, despite their key part of British culture and heritage, oaks and other ancient trees have very little legal protection.

So as well as voting in the competition, people are also being invited to sign the Woodland Trust’s “living legends” petition, calling for stronger laws around cutting down valuable trees.

Adam Cormack, head of campaigns at the Woodland Trust said: “The history of our country is interwoven with these wonderful trees, which have built our ships and cities, and after which we have named so many places – and pubs!

“It is essential that future generations have the opportunity to stand under a centuries-old oak and wonder what stories it holds.”

The 12 oaks shortlisted for the Tree of the Year vote are:

– Marton Oak, Cheshire, a 1,200-year-old sessile oak tree with a huge 14.02 metre girth, making it the UK’s widest recorded oak, which stands in a private garden on “Oak Lane” and has a totally hollow trunk.

– Bowthorpe Oak, Lincolnshire, which is thought to be around a thousand years old and is the second widest tree on the shortlist. It is also hollow, with ancient graffiti inside, and it is claimed three dozen people once stood in it.

– Gregynog Oak, which stands among several mammoth trees in wildlife-rich Great Wood in the grounds of Gregynog Hall in Powys, could have been admired by the likes of Gustav Holst and George Bernard Shaw, who are known to have visited the property.

– Queen Elizabeth Oak, West Sussex, which is the second largest sessile oak on record, after the Marton oak, and is one of a few ancient oaks associated with Elizabeth I, who is believed to have been positioned by the tree on a hunting excursion in 1591.

– Skipinnish oak, Lochaber, which is named after a ceilidh band, is a large, single-stemmed oak that is surrounded by Sitka spruce monoculture, but still supports a huge ecosystem in its canopy, including temperate rainforest bryophytes and lichens on its bark.

– The Michael, Midlothian, which is a hybrid of the the UK’s two native oaks, sessile and pendunculate. Its name is probably a corruption of the Scots word “meikle”, meaning big, though some believe it was named after The Michael, the largest sailing ship afloat in the 16th century.

– Tea Party Oak, Suffolk, stands in the National Trust’s Ickworth Estate, but significantly predates the 18th century palace there, and is significant for locals and wildlife including bats. It is named after tea parties held under it for village children in the 19th century.

– King John Oak, Somerset, a tree that was already 500 years old when the school whose grounds it stands in was founded in 1519. It has seen countless generations of children grow up alongside it.

– Darwin Oak, Shrewsbury, which is estimated to be 550 years old and grows very close to The Mount, the childhood home of Charles Darwin. Darwin’s Oak, as it is known locally, and eight other ancient trees are at risk of being felled to make way for the Shrewsbury bypass.

– Capon Tree, Scottish Borders, which is one of the last surviving trees of the ancient Jedforest woodland. Its sprawling form may have saved it from felling for shipbuilding, and for 75 years it has played a key role in the annual Jethart Callant festival, with a sprig being used to decorate the leading man or Callant.

– Castle Archdale Oak, Co Fermanagh, has a vast trunk split into two stems, and was likely to have been standing throughout the building, capture, burning and abandonment of nearby, now-ruined, Castle Archdale in the 17th century.

– The “Elephant Oak”, Old Sloden Inclosure, Sussex, is the wildcard nomination from the public, nominated by Claire Sheppard, who said: “It’s a pollard oak known as the ‘Elephant Oak’ due to its massive trunk!

“I hike for around 5km from Abbotswell car park to get there and back, and this wood always gives me goosebumps. It’s not the easiest place to reach and hence it’s always very quiet; I get a real sense of peace and solitude here,” she said.