Buttington Oak

Buttington Oak
Species Oak (Quercus)
Location Buttington, Wales
Date seeded c. 1100
Date felled February 2018

The Buttington Oak was a tree near to Offa's Dyke at Buttington, Wales, said to have been planted to mark the site of the Battle of Buttington between the Vikings and a Mercian, Wessex and Welsh force in 893. It had been pollarded for timber at some point in its history. The oak tree was rediscovered in 2009. It was badly damaged by storms in 2017 and fell in February 2018.

History

The oak was said to have been planted by locals to mark the 893 Battle of Buttington, a victory of an allied Mercian, Wessex and Welsh force against invading Vikings or as a boundary marker on Offa's Dyke.[1][2] The tree was located near Welshpool and close to the dyke, an 8th-century earthwork that marked the border between Mercia and the Kingdom of Powys.[1] The tree stood in fields on a flood plain to the north of Buttington and east of the River Severn and was accessible by a public footpath (approximately half a mile's walk from the A458 road).[3][4] The oak was a working tree, being pollarded, to provide timber for the local community and may have been used to fashion weapons.[4]

Description

The Buttington Oak was not rediscovered until 2009 and was not protected by any legislation.[5] At around 11 metres (36 ft) in girth the oak was the largest tree on the dyke and the second-largest oak in Wales.[1][4] The Woodland Trust described it as "an iconic feature of the landscape".[6]

The Buttington Oak was badly damaged by storms in 2017 which caused it to split in two.[4] The tree fell in February 2018, an event first noticed by the same man who recorded it in 2009.[1] The tree was estimated to be more than one thousand years old when it died.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "1,000-year-old oak on Offa's Dyke falls". BBC News. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Thousand-year-old oak on Offa's Dyke finally fallen". The Times. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Miles, Archie (2013). The British Oak. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 296. ISBN 9781472114105. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "1,000-year-old oak tree on England-Wales border crashes down after storm". Sky News. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  5. ↑ March, Polly (16 July 2016). "Tree hunter's epic quest nears end". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Meet some very special trees". Woodland Trust. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
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