CHAP. CV. 



CORYLA CE/E. tfUE'RCUS. 



1839 



1691 



13 ft. 8 in. in circumference, and has attained a good height ; the branches spread in the form of a dome 

 and nearly touch the ground, in all parts of the circle sheltered by the luxuriant foliage of this 

 splendid specimen ; the diameter of this circle is 95 ft." In Wiltshire, at Longleat, 250 years old, 

 it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the head 75 ft, and girt of the trunk 19 ft. Gin. ; at Wardour Castle, 

 200 years old, it is 50 ft. high, the diameter of the head 45 ft., and girt of the trunk 25 ft. ; at Long- 

 ford Castle it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the head 80 ft., and girt of the trunk 15 ft. ; in Savernake 

 Forest there are many large and noble oaks, besides those mentioned in p. 1771. and p. 1792. 



The British Oak North of London. In Bedfordshire, at Woburn Abbey, Q. pedunculata is 75 ft. 

 high, and the circumference of the trunk is 18 ft. 6 in. ; Q. sessiliflbra is 90 ft. high, the diameter of 

 the head is 63 ft, and the girt of the trunk 21 ft. 6 in. Near Bedford, on an estate also belonging to 

 the Duke of Bedford, stands a remarkably finegrowing tree, called the Oakley Oak, which girts 15 ft. 

 9 in. at 2 it. from the ground ; the height is 75 ft., and the diameter of the head, from the extremities 

 of the branches, is 116 ft. In Howe's Park, Q. pedunculata is 85 ft. high, and the girt of the trunk 

 15 ft. ; and Q. sessilifldra is 90 ft. high, and the circumference of the trunk 29 ft. At Flitwick House 

 there is an old oak 60ft. high, which girts 18ft ; it has a straight trunk about 35ft. high before it 

 forms any branches; there is also a young oak, planted in 1818, which, in 1836, was 30ft high, and 

 2 ft. 5± in. in circumference. At Ampthill Park there are two fine old oaks : the first (Q. pedunculata) 

 is 59 ft. high, and the trunk girts 25 ft; the second {Q. sessiliflbra) is 60 ft. high, girting 24 ft, 

 and with a head 100 ft. in diameter. In Breconshire, the largest oak is one (now in a state of decay) 

 which girts 25 ft. at 5 ft. from the ground : it grows with some other fine trees near the old mansion 

 of Pantycored, near Brecon, and belongs to Dillwyn Llewelyn, Esq. In Buckinghamshire, at Claydon 

 House, the seat of Sir Harry Verney, are two very fine oaks : the circumference of the trunk of the 

 largest is 27 ft., and the diameter of the head 120 It : the circumference of the trunk of the other tree, 

 at the smallest part, is 21ft At Harleyford is an oak 16 ft. in girt, and dividing into two enormous 

 limbs, each from 9ft to 12 ft in circumference. Waller's oaks, near Beaconsfield, are about 100ft. 

 high, and 8 ft. in circumference: they were planted by Waller in 1730. In Caermarthenshire, at 

 Golden Grove, are many fine oaks, supposed to be about 300 years old, above 80 ft. high, and with 

 trunks from 15 ft to 18 ft. in circumference. In Cambridgeshire, at Wimpole, is an oak 75 ft. high, 

 with a trunk 13ft. in girt, which is clear to the height of 50 ft. In Cheshire, at Combermere Abbey, 

 there is a pollard oak 80 ft high, the circumference of the trunk 24 ft, and diameter of the head 

 75 ft. ; there are also some oaks in a growing state, about 70 ft. high, with heads from 75 ft. to 80 ft. in 

 diameter, and trunks girting about 12 ft. (For other oaks at Combermere see p. 1756.) At Buckland 

 Hill, according to Mitchell, there is an oak with a trunk 24 ft. in circumference at 5 ft from the 

 ground, and which, at 8 ft, branches out into four large limbs, about 60 ft high, and spreading over 

 a diameter of 120 ft. In Derbyshire, the approach to Kedleston House, the seat of Lord Scarsdale, 

 is through one of the finest oak groves in the kingdom. We have received the following account of 

 these trees from the Honourable and Reverend Frederick Curzon : — " The largest oak, called, par 

 excellence, the ' King Tree,' measures in girt, at 6 ft. from the ground, 24 ft. ; it has a noble trunk 

 of 60 ft. without a single branch, and appears in a healthy and growing state. The late Lord Scars- 

 dale refused 300 guineas for it about 20 years ago, when he sold a tree standing near it for 204 

 guineas. There are about a dozen more trees in the same grove, with trunks girting from 19 ft. to 

 20 ft each." In Durham, at Ravensworth Castle, there is an oak which is supposed to be the largest 

 in the county : it is 70ft high, with a trunk 18 ft. 4 in. in circumference at 1 ft. from the ground, 

 and 17 ft. at 9 ft; the head is 80 ft in diameter. In Essex, the Lawn Oak, at Writtle Park, 

 according to Burnet, is 25 ft. in girt at 5ft from the ground; and the great Northfield Oak, in 

 the same park, girts 31 ft. 6 in. at the same height. At Hempstead, near Saffron Walden, is an old 

 oak, the trunk of which, we are informed by J. Pease, Esq. M.P., girts from 50ft to 53 ft In 

 Flintshire, at Gredlington, the seat of Lord Kenyon, there are two oaks, one of which is 96 ft. high, 

 and girts 13 ft. 9 in. ; and the other is 83 ft. high, and girts 15 ft. In Glamorganshire are several 

 fine trees ; and among others the Sketty Oak. We have received the following account of this tree 

 from that excellent British botanist and ardent lover of trees, I/. W. Dillwyn, Esq., M.P. : — " This 

 tree grows at Lower Sketty, about 2 miles from my house. When I first came into this neigh- 

 bourhood, in 1802, it was a magnificent tree; but, a few years afterwards, it was much damaged by 

 lightning ; and one of the main branches, within these 3 or 4 years, has been torn off by a storm. 

 The trunk is quite hollow, with a circumference of 37 ft. 9 in. at the base ; and it measures 24 ft. 2 in. 

 at 4 ft 6 in. from the ground, before any of the enlargement occasioned by the branches begins." 

 We have received the following account of the Lanelay Oak, also, from Mr. Dillwyn : — " It grows 

 about a mile and a half from Lantrissant ; and my friend the Rev. J. M. Trahcrne has sent me its 

 dimensions as follows : — ' 58 ft. 6 in. round the base, and 27 ft. 2in. at 3 ft. from the ground.' This 

 tree is in a much more shattered state than the one at Lower Sketty : one side of the hollow trunk 



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