The Valence Park Holm Oak

The October 1987 storm brought down some 15 million trees across southern England and left this one untouched. Its low, heavily buttressed frame is credited for that: a holm oak that grows outward rather than upward gives the wind nothing to lean on. Roughly ten years later it was added to the Great Trees of London list. How old it is depends on which source you take, and the two do not agree. The Barking and Dagenham Post, quoting the borough's own heritage education officer, credits the Mertinn family, German immigrants who had made their money in jewellery and bought the estate in the early 1700s, with planting it to make their grounds look grander. That would put it close to 350 years. The London Gardens Trust's survey record for the site is more clinical and dates the grounds' holm oak and yew only to the nineteenth century, which would make it under 225. Both agree on what stands there: one of the most impressive holm oaks in London, beside the moat of Valence House, a medieval manor that is now the borough's museum. One practical note. The moat enclosure immediately beside the tree was closed for restoration work due to finish in spring 2026, so whether you can currently get right up to the trunk is unconfirmed. The park around it stays open, and the pin here is park level rather than surveyed.