King John’s Oak
King John’s Oak
Grid reference: SY 24060 97381
Latitude: 50.771025
Longitude: -3.0782970
Nearest Postcode: EX13 7QP
King John’s Oak is the largest and probably the oldest oak tree in the West Country. It stands in private grounds (owned and managed by the Bird family) in an old deer park, called Woodend Park.
King John’s Oak (King John b1166 – d1216 – reigned from 1199 to 1216) is over 10m (10.2) in girth and could date back to the 12th century monarch, although no connection has been proved.
Our recent girth measurement was 10.4m = 34.12ft or 409 inches – making it, according to tree expert from Gloucester, Mark Frith, the 15th largest oak in Britain, larger girth-wise than the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest. This would also make it the 15th oldest oak tree in the UK. Mark is attempting to record, in the form of his superb drawn sketches, the 20 oldest recorded ancient oaks of the UK. One day, he says, his sketch of King John’s Oak will appear on this website. We really look forward to that event.
How to calculate the age of a tree:
1. Measure up 1.3 metres from base of tree (usually chest height on an adult). If there are ‘Lumps & Bumps’ at this height, adjust to just above or below, whichever is narrowest or easiest to do, but you must go no lower than 0.5 metres above the base. Measure the girth (circumference) in metres, to the nearest 10cm.
2. Convert the girth measurement to centimetres (multiply by 100) and then
divide this value by 1.25 if the tree is in woodland :
1020 (official) Divided by 1.25 = 816 years old =1195 – the time of King John !
The Story of Shute – M F Bridie
“One of the ancient trees is marked on early maps as “King John’s Oak”. Tradition has it that the acorn was planted by the King when hunting. He had been created Earl of Cornwall at an early age, and the manor of Axminster had been held by him till 1204. So it is just conceivable that he may have passed this way on some unrecorded journey, before the days of modern publicity and tarried awhile for a day’s sport.
Be that as it may, in the Shute grounds too, several very ancient oaks rear their majestic heads; they have been well planted and wisely spaced so that their growth has been unrestricted
The deer park would be an added attraction for hunting in the days when sports were few. At the present time the Park extends to a mere 120 acres, but is reputed to have been formerly a Royal Deer Park of vast extent dating back from an early period in the Norman dynasty. As a Royal Deer Park one of the stipulations was that at least 40 head of deer should always be preserved, presumably ready in case the King wished to do any deer stalking. Now the enormous trees rear their aged heads proudly on the slopes of the hills. Tradition says that in ancient days a “Druid’s Circle”, scene of pagan rites, stood on the summit of the central hill. There is no trace of stones, but the few remaining oaks, in the form of a rough circle, may have grown from an ancient oak grove.”
Strife of the Roses and days of the Tudors in the west – W H Hamilton Rogers
“Among the glade of venerable oaks, huge gnarled and twisted, is a veteran with a regal appellative, surnamed of Lackland ( King John )- with which monarch, tradition delivers it, was in existence contemporary. And who is to say the legend is not correct, especially as every lineage of this aged grandee of the forest’s appearance goes to confirm it.”
King John – a brief history:
(born 24th December 1166)
King of England 1199 to 1216 – 17 years
John, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands. Following the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 1173 and 1174, however, John became Henry’s favourite child. He was appointed the Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. John’s elder brothers William, Henry and Geoffrey died young. By the time Richard I became king in 1189, John was a potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard’s royal administrators whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade. Despite this, after Richard died in 1199, John was proclaimed king of England.
In 1214, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of many of England’s most powerful nobles. Although both John and the barons agreed to the Magna Carta peace treaty in 1215, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Louis of France. It soon descended into a stalemate. John died of dysentery contracted whilst on campaign in eastern England on 18th October 1216; supporters of his son Henry III went on to achieve victory over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.
English oak or Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)
Quercus robur is distinguished by its leaves having only a very short stalk 3–8 mm long, and by its pedunculate (stalked) acorns. It is a long-lived tree, with a large wide-spreading crown of rugged branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques that extend the tree’s potential lifespan, if not its health.
Within its native range, it is valued for its importance to insects and other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the acorns. It supports the highest biodiversity of insect herbivores of any British plant. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small mammals and some birds such as jays which were overwhelmingly the primary propagators of oaks before humans began planting them commercially, because of their habit of taking acorns from the umbra of its parent tree and burying it, undamaged, elsewhere.
Oak was the sacred wood burnt by the druids for their mid-summer sacrifice. In fact the word ‘druid’ means ‘oak man’.
Woodend Park (the old Shute Deer Park), is the oldest extant park in Devon – dating back possibly to the 12th Century. The Park is famous for its ancient oaks (more than 100) (Lord Arundel’s Oak may still have a small remant but Chaselands Oak is no longer) as well as its epiphytic lichens and deadwood beetles.
The fungus on King John’s Oak has been identified by Alan Lucas as
Phellinus wahbergii
which is only found on 4 other oak trees in England – two at Langley Park (Buckinghamshire), one in New Forest and one at Staverton Thicks (Suffolk). The only other place in ‘Europe’ that it has been recorded is the Canary Islands. It is known in the tropics. So it is an outstanding rarity and one where southern England is the European epicentre.
On another large oak in the wood is another rare lichen Lobaria virens:
September 2011: Jill Butler (Woodland Trust), Alan Lucas (fungus expert), Keith Alexander (beetle expert) looking at King John’s Oak:
George Ashe (1879-1961) retired to Colyton and recorded beetles in Woodend Park from 1939-58. Amongst the many rarities he found were:
Stenichnus godarti (RDB3),
Ptenidium gressneri (NS),
Quedius scitus NS),
Abraeus granulum (NS),
Aulonothroscus brevicollis (RDB3),
Ptinus subpilosus (NS),
Pseudocistela ceramboides (NS)
& Ischnomera sanguinicollis (NS).
His list demonstrated that this parkland is of national importance to nature conservation for its beetles. Most have a requirement for ancient hollowing oaks, so I don’t doubt that these species are still there. They are just difficult to find. He took nearly 20 years to build up the list!
All photos courtesy of either Angela Pearce, Ann Shepherd, Phil Wilson or Rick Wood
Once a year in June or July, the Bird family have very kindly agreed to allow us to take a group of interested people up to the oak and then have a picnic at the top of the hill near Druids Circle. We are extremely grateful to them for their generosity. For the rest of the year, please respect the fact that this is private land. Thank you.
There is also a fine oak tree in the grounds of Shute House by the footpath which runs through the estate. It is Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris) thought to be over 260 years old and the biggest of its type in the country with a girth of 21ft and spread of about 120 ft. Elisabeth Miller who lives a mere minute’s walk away, says it is an outstanding specimen, perfectly proportioned and with a trunk characterised by a series of cathedral-like buttresses.
Rick.
