ANCIENT OAK - Exceptional Trees on Waymarking.com

"It takes an oak tree 300 years to grow, 300 years to live, 300 years to die."

There is an ancient oak to the north of Upton Pyne which is marked on John Donne's map of 1765 as "The Broad Oak". It is also mentioned by the Reverend John Swete in his travel diaries of 1789 as being "a very noble, ancient and vast oak" at the "five mile stone from Exeter" and was the only tree in the district mentioned by name. It was obviously an important Devon landmark in the 18th century but now you would pass it without a second glance, since it has "grown down" into a short squat little chap with a girth of nearly 9m. It was measured and photographed in 1901 by the Exeter College Field Club and it has reduced in size still further since then. A recent visit from national experts from the Ancient Tree Forum dated the tree at around 700 years. It is wonderful to see such a fantastic heritage tree allowed to live and age naturally like this.

Genus/Species: Oak Height: 60 Girth: 27 Method of obtaining height: Reliable source Method of obtaining girth: Reliable source Location type: Other public property Age: 700 Historical significance: Not listed Planter: Not listed Website reference: Not listed Parking coordinates: Not Listed Walk time: Not Listed Photograpy coordinates: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
A closeup picture of your GPS receiver in your hand, with the tree in the background, is required. If the tree is on private property, this closeup photograph with the tree in the background may be taken from the nearest public vantage point without actually going to the tree.
The required photograph does not need to show the entire tree, but the individual tree must be recognizable.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/23/2009 BlazingOtters visited it

View all visits/logs