(Vol. iv., p. 401., &c.)
I hope your correspondent L., in his search for ancient trees, will not
overlook the Great Oak at Tilford near Farnham, which is worth a visit
for its size and beauty, if not for its antiquity. Mr. Brayley, in his
_History of Surrey_, vol. v. p. 288., thus speaks of it:--
"In the Charter granted by Henry de Blois about the year 1250, to
the monks of Waverley, he gives them leave to inclose their lands
wherever they please, within these bounds, 'which extend,' says
the record, 'from the Oak of Tilford, which is called the Kynghoc
[a quercu de Tyleford quæ vocatur Kynghoc], by the king's highway
towards Farnham, &c.' ... The Tilford Oak is still standing, and
is known by its ancient appellation of the King's Oak: a name
which it could not have obtained unless it had been of
considerable age and growth at the time of the bishop's grant; and
it may therefore be reasonably supposed to be 800 or 900 years
old. It is a noble tree, and still flourishing apparently without
decay."
I very much doubt the identity of the present tree with the "King's Oak"
of Henry de Blois. _First_, Because the present bounds of Waverley do
not run within 300 yards of the tree; and the bounds are hardly likely
to have been materially changed, inasmuch as the abbey lands are
freehold and tithe-free, whereas the surrounding lands are copyhold and
titheable. _Secondly_, because the tree itself appears still to be
growing and vigorous. Cobbett describes it in his _Rural Rides_, p. 15.,
1822, with his usual accuracy of observation:
"Our direct road was right over the heath, through Tilford, to
Farnham: but we veered a little to the left after we came to
Tilford, at which place, on the green, we stopped to look at an
_oak tree_, which, when I was a little boy, was but a very little
tree, comparatively, and which is now, taken altogether, by far
the finest tree that I ever saw in my life. The stem or shaft is
short, that is to say, it is short before you come to the first
limbs; but it is full thirty feet round at about eight or ten feet
from the ground. Out of the stem there come not less than fifteen
or sixteen limbs, many of which are from five to six feet round,
and each of which would in fact be considered a decent stick of
timber. I am not judge enough of timber to say anything about the
quantity in the whole tree; but my son stepped the ground, and, as
nearly as we could judge, the diameter of the extent of the
branches was upwards of ninety feet, which would make a
circumference of about 300 feet. The tree is in full growth at the
moment. There is a little hole in one of the limbs, but with that
exception, not the smallest sign of decay The tree has made great
shoots in all parts of it this last summer, and there are no
appearances of _white_ on the trunks such as are regarded as the
symptoms of full growth. There are many sorts of oak in England:
two very distinct. One with a pale leaf, and one with a dark leaf;
this is of the pale leaf."
Any other references to the age or history of this tree would oblige.