Major Oak - History

History

It took its present name from Major Hayman Rooke's description of it in 1790.

There are several theories concerning why it became so huge and oddly shaped:

• The Major Oak may be several trees that fused together when saplings.
• The tree was possibly pollarded, a system of tree management that enabled foresters to grow more than one crop of timber from a single tree causing the trunk to grow large and thick. However, there is only limited evidence to support this theory as none of the other trees in the surrounding area were pollarded.

Since the Victorian era its massive limbs have been partially supported by an elaborate system of scaffolding.

In February 1998, a local company took cuttings from the Major Oak and began cultivating clones of the famous tree with the intention of sending saplings to be planted in major cities around the world. Also in 1998, a Mansfield resident was cautioned by the Nottinghamshire Police for selling alleged Major Oak acorns (including a certificate of authenticity) to unsuspecting Americans via an Internet-based mail-order company. On 1 October 2002, another news story broke about someone illegally selling acorns from the Major Oak on an Internet-based auction website.

In 2003, in Dorset a plantation was started of 260 saplings grown from acorns of the Major Oak. The purpose was to provide a focal point for an Internet-based study of the Major Oak, its history, photographic record, variation in size and leafing of the saplings, comparison of their DNA, and an eventual public amenity.

The Major Oak was featured on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the Midlands.