NOTED OAKS NEAR BURTON 19 
Shaw, in the History of Staffordshire, says: “It is of great 
antiquity, but still fruitful of acorns.” It is called the Father of the 
Forest. The girth, 5ft. from the ground, is 21]ft., extent of the 
large arm 45ft. 
The measurements of this tree vary in different accounts of it. 
In the late Edwin Brown’s time** the girth is given as 33ft. in the 
middle of the trunk, 42ft. round the base. This does not agree 
with my measurements in 1905, or with one taken in 1899, which 
is 22ft. at 6ft. fromthe ground. Garner gives the measurement in 
1830 as 21ft. 44in., its height 65ft., containing 1,000 cubic feet of 
timber. 
Bagot’s Park contains a number of celebrated trees, the largest, 
the Beggar’s Oak, is 264ft. in girth, 4ft. from the ground, and 
about 60ft. high ; its branches extend about 50ft. in every direction. 
THE BECGCAR’S OAK, BACOT’S PARK, NEEDWOOD FOREST. 
There seems some doubt as to how the name originated ; some 
think it is a corruption of Bagot’s Oak, others that it was the 
frequent shelter for beggars and wanderers when crossing the Forest. 
