The Royal Oak
- Species
- Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur)
- Age estimate
- 750 years
- Location
- Near Pen Ponds, Richmond Park, Richmond, London (Richmond Park)
- Access
- Free, open access, national park
- Getting there
- Bus or car to Richmond Park, then on foot near Pen Ponds
The wall came second: this oak was already centuries old when Charles I enclosed Richmond Park around it in 1637. It is a massive hollow pollard, its trunk split and gnarled, wide enough to shelter a small football team, and it has lived behind royal fences ever since the King claimed the land for his deer. Richmond Park holds one of the largest collections of ancient oaks in Europe, and the Royal Oak is its figurehead. Sir David Attenborough made it the symbol of a conservation campaign. The deer still graze around it as they have for centuries.
Opens directions in your maps app. Bus or car to Richmond Park, then on foot near Pen Ponds
Trees nearby
- The Old Lions of Kew, 250+ years (Kew, South West London)
- Barney the Plane, 300+ years (Barnes, South West London)
- The Fulham Palace Oak, 500+ years (Fulham)
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