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abounds with grotesque old trees, of which the most noted 
is the tree known as Queen Elizabeth’s oak. We applied to 
the Marquess of Salisbury for an authentic history of this 
tree, and his Lordship obligingly replies: ‘I am afraid that 
the only account I can give of Queen Elizabeth’s oak is that it 
was reported to be the limit of her walk when confined, during 
the latter years of Mary’s reign, at Hatfield, and that she was 
sitting there when her sister’s death was announced to her.’ An 
Avenue of Limes has been planted up to it apparently to 
i Oy Rem 37 
Wi A rv 
CAG) 
VY: 
A TRIAD OF ROYAL OAKS. 
A, Oak planted by the Queen. B, Queen Elizabeth’s Oak. c, Oak planted by Prince Consort. 
commemorate the fact.” ‘The tree, which isa pollarded oak, is now 
a dead shell, but, needless to say, it is most carefully preserved. 
A great portion of the trunk has been protected by a lead 
covering, and it is enclosed by a stout fence. It has not a single 
green bough of its own, but out of its highest point is growing 
a fresh young sapling from a self-sown acorn, and if its roots 
manage to reach the soil, a likely enough possibility, it will carry 
down the succession through many future ages. When Queen 
Victoria visited Hatfield in 1846, she was much interested in this 
venerable historic tree, and as a memento of her visit, it is said, 
