King Offa's Oak
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King Offa's Oak is a pollarded pedunculate oak (''
Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
'') which grows on the territory of
Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of to the south of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park ...
, Berkshire, England. As measured in 1998, the tree was in girth, and the trunk splits above ground, leaving several large offshoots. In 2017, the height was measured as . The oak is at least 1300 years old according to experts and potentially as old as 1500 years. Both of these numbers would make the tree the oldest oak in the United Kingdom.


Health

The tree split centuries ago, and a sizeable part of the trunk has died and fallen to the ground, whereas several other offshoots remain living. The tree has a live, vigorous top. Recently, fears were raised in regards to the tree's health if it got infested by the
oak processionary moth The oak processionary (OPM) (''Thaumetopoea processionea'') is a moth whose caterpillars can be found in oak forests, where they feed on oak leaves, causing significant damage. They travel in nose-to-tail processions (hence their name), often arr ...
.


Location and status

The tree grows on private land with no public access at Windsor Great Park, and has been registered as a Tree of National Special Interest.


See also

*
King Offa Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...
*
List of Great British Trees The Great British Trees were 50 trees selected by The Tree Council in 2002 to spotlight trees in the United Kingdom in honour of Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the Queen's Golden Jubilee. England Western England * Tortworth Chestnut in T ...


References

{{reflist Individual trees in England Windsor Great Park