THE OAK TREE IN ESSEX. 



By F. C. SHENSTONE. 



[Read June 23rd, 18^4.] 



" Time made thee what thou wast — King of the Woods 1 

 And Time hath made thee what thou art, a cave 

 For owls to roost in." 



Coivficr " Yardky Oak" 



00 ME time ago our member, Mr. R. Miller Christy, suggested that 

 "^ we should together collect material for a paper of oak trees in 

 Essex remarkable either for their age and size, or their historical 

 and topographical associations. In consequence of more pressing 

 matters, Mr. Christy has left the work in my hands, and I now 

 venture to submit the results of the inquiry to the Club, although I 

 have not by any means completed the search for notable Essex oak 

 irees. I hope that by affording data which will enable others to 

 judge as to what may be considered a tree worthy of record in our 

 :ounty, I may interest and encourage them to add to our information 

 Dn the subject.^ 



It may be safely said that no member of our British Flora 

 surpasses the oak in interest. The tree is intimately connected with 

 )ur history from the earliest period, though in recent times the 

 idvent of " ironclads," and other changes in the art of naval 

 irchitecture have robbed it of much of the romance which clung 

 ibout it when " our ships were British oak, and hearts of oak our 

 nen.'' Volumes might be written about the uses our forefathers 

 bund for its timber; for their buildings, as may be seen in the roofs 

 md carvings of our historic houses and churches ; for their furniture 

 n the days when the household belongings were made to be handed 

 lown from generation to generation ; for their art work, as may be 

 bxemplified by the beautiful oak carvings in our museums and 

 galleries ; with the bark they tanned the hides of their cattle, and in 

 he days when more than half our country was "King's Forest," the 

 icornwas of extreme value, as may be seen by a glance through the 



I The illustrations of this paper are taken, unless otherwise stated, from photographs by Mr. 

 >henstone, who has also verj- kindly presented the blocks to the Club. Mr. Shenstone writes 

 especting his own drawings: — "I think that some explanation is needed with regard to the 

 Uustrations. I felt that a paper on oak trees would be incomplete without pictures. The trees 

 leing spread through the length and breadth of our county, it was not practicable to send an 

 irtist to make careful drawings. I therefore had no choice but to do the be=t I could myself. In 

 'nost instances I photographed these trees, and from my photographs made the drawings. 

 Though, no doubt, these are open to much criticism from an artist's point of view, I believe I am 

 ustified in stating that they correctly represent the condition of the several trees at the present 

 ime." 



The pictures of the Cuckoo Oak (fig. 4), the Pulpit Oak (fig. 5), and Theydon Oak (fig. 6), 

 re from drawings from nature, kindly presented by Mr. H. A. Cole. — Ed. 



H 



