The Angerenstein Pond Oak

The national register thinks this is probably the oldest tree in Park Angerenstein and will not quite say so. Its note reads: probably among the oldest trees present in the park, possibly planted around 1800. The planting band it records runs from 1800 to 1850, and we have kept the whole of it rather than narrowing to the flattering end. So: somewhere between about 175 and 225 years old, an oak on the south bank of the pond. Angerenstein is threaded with streams, ponds and small waterfalls, and this tree has the best address in the park, standing on the edge with the water in front of it. The register places it near something it calls the Zuenkerk. We could not find out what that is. It is not a church anyone lists, and it reads like a local name for a garden building, a ruin or a spot that everybody in the neighbourhood knows and nobody has ever written down. If you know, tell us, because we would like to name the place properly. The park has been open to the public since 1921 and municipally owned since 1941, so there is no ticket and no gate. This oak sits at the water end of a short loop of four monumental trees, eight minutes' walk from Arnhem Presikhaaf station.