The oldest tree in Winterswijk, by the reckoning of the local history society, is an oak in a pasture at Brinkheurne, planted between 1750 and 1800. Lightning tore its bark open in 1975; it was repaired in 1981 and has kept growing, to 6 metres round by 2015. It stands alone in the field because the hedge bank it grew in was cleared in the 19th century and this tree was left.
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Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) · 250 years · Brinkheurne, Winterswijk
Lightning hit this oak in September 1975, ripped its bark away over many metres and broke off branches. It kept growing anyway. Tree surgeons repaired it in 1981, and in the decades after the strike it put on about 80 centimetres of girth. In 2015 it measured 6 metres round and 20 metres tall.
The local history society Oud-Winterswijk calls it the oldest tree in Winterswijk. The claim form of the national register of monumental trees has it planted between 1750 and 1800, which makes it roughly 250 years old. It began as one tree in a houtwal, a wooded hedge bank. In the 19th century the bank was cleared and this oak was left standing. No source says why it was spared.
That is why it stands alone in a pasture today. In 1972 it was 5 metres round, so the lightning came when it was already a big tree. In 2018 it was the subject of an exhibition and a book by 24 photographers.
Even its address is slightly unsettled. It stands by the Sieverdink farm in the hamlet of Brinkheurne, though Dutch Wikipedia notes it may sit just over the line in Kotten.
The meadow is working farmland, and no source says you may walk into it. Look at it from Sieverdinkweg or Bothoekweg.
Photo: WeeJeeVee (CC BY-SA 4.0)