GREAT OAK TREES AND OTHERS by
J.
O.
WRIGHT
I notice the description of the Oak near Ellough in Transactions Vol. XII pt. 3, p. 207 " girth 20 ft. 10J ins. " which A. Aston claims must be almost the largest oak in Suffolk. At New Beils Farm, Haughley, is an oak estimated by several forestry experts as 1,000 years old with the following measurements : Girth 35 ft. 3 ins. (at 4 ft. since owing to the bases of branches this is the narrowest point. At 5 ft. the girth would be at least 50 ft.). Branch spread 111 ft. Height approximately 73 ft. Sorry Mr. Aston, the Ellough oak is relatively a sapling ! Incidentally the January, 1963, issue of the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society lists the biggest known trees in Britain of about 100 species. Height
Girth
Quercus pedunculata
128' 70' 40'
14'10" 3 2 ' 3" 3 9 ' 9"
M a r c h m o u n t , Berwick Sparkford, Somerset Bowthorp, Lines. (pollarded)
1954 1961 1955
Q. sessiliflora
120' 90'
21' 29'
Nettlecombe, Somerset Shobdon, Hereford
1959 1959
Powis Castle, M o n m o u t h
1961
hybrid
90'
1" 1"
3 3 ' 6"
Place
Date Observed
Species
The only other trees to reach a girth of 30 ft. are : Cedrus Libani
3 4 ' 9" (at 2 ' ) Cheshunt, Herls.
1954
?
3 4 ' 1"
Ulcombe, K e n t
1948
?
3 9 ' 6"
Canford, Dorset
1953
Hex aquifolium
49'
3 1 ' 9"
Doncaster
1955
Tilia vulgaris
90'
37'10"
C o b h a m Hall, K e n t
1953
Ulmus procera
?
3 1 ' 0"
East Bergholt, Suffolk (one 130' x 1 1 ' 7" at Chisvvick Hse., L o n d o n )
1942
Taxus
Baccata
Castanea
sativa
66'