14 



SYLVA BRITANNICA. 



THE SQUITCH BANK OAK 



also is in its full vigour and beauty. Its "circum- 

 ference at the roots is forty-three feet ; and at five 

 feet high it is twenty-one feet nine inches. It is 

 thirty-three feet in height to the crown; and 

 twenty-eight feet above ; in all sixty-one feet. The 

 butt contains six hundred and sixty feet nine inches 

 of timber ; the principal limb seventy-nine feet six 

 inches ; and the other limbs, fourteen in number, 

 two hundred and seventy-two feet seven inches ; 

 making its total contents one thousand and twelve 

 feet seven inches of solid timber. 



This majestic tree stands in Bagot's Park, about 

 four miles from Blithfield, near Litchfield, the seat 

 of the Right Honorable Lord Bagot ; who may be 

 regarded as one of the greatest encouragers of Oak 

 timber in the kingdom, having planted two millions 

 of acorns on his estates in Staffordshire and Wales ; 

 which display, on every side, scenes of sylvan 

 beauty and grandeur that can scarcely be sur- 

 passed. Bagot's Park, in particular, abounds with 

 rich and graceful variety of scenery. The gardens 

 bloom with a thousand sweets ; the birds warble 

 among them in notes of gratitude to the fresh and 

 balmy air. The lawns, clothed with oaks and 

 clumps of trees, exhibit the most soft and delicious 



