_Age of Trees--"Essex Broad Oak"_ (Vol. v., pp. 10. 40.).--Was not the
"Essex Broad Oak" identical with the "Fairlop Oak?" The Fairlop Oak is
thus described in _Excursions through Essex_ (Longman, 1818, vol. ii. p.
56.):
"In Hainault Forest, about one mile from Barkingside, stands an
oak which has been known through many centuries by the name of
Fairlop. For an account of this celebrated tree (which seems to
have escaped the attention of the laborious Camden, and his
indefatigable continuator, Mr. Gough) we are indebted to the Rev.
Mr. Gilpin. 'The tradition of this tree,' says this ingenious
writer in his _Remarks on Forest Scenery and other Woodland
Views_, 'traces it half way up the Christian æra. It is still a
noble tree, though it has suffered greatly from the depredations
of time. About a yard from the ground, where its rough fluted stem
is 36 feet in circumference, it divides into eleven vast arms; yet
not in the horizontal manner of an oak, but rather in that of a
beach. Beneath its shade, which overspreads an area of 300 feet in
circuit, an annual fair has long been held on the first Friday in
July.' This celebrated tree was for some time fenced round with a
close paling about five feet high. Almost all the extremities of
its branches have been sawed off, and Mr. Forsyth's composition
applied to them, to preserve then from decay; and the injury which
the trunk of the tree had sustained from the lighting of fires
have been repaired, as much as possible, with the same
composition. On one of the branches a board was fixed, with this
inscription, 'All good foresters are requested not to hurt this
old tree, a plaister having been lately applied to its wounds.'"
If my recollection serves me correctly, a drawing and description of
this old tree is contained in one of Hone's publications,--I think his
_Table Book_.[9]
[Footnote 9: [The drawing and description of this venerable oak is given
in the _Mirror_, vol. ii. p. 81., where it is stated that Mr. Forsyth's
precautions were insufficient to protect it from an injurious custom
practised by many of its thoughtless visitors, of making a fire within
the cavities to cook their provisions; for, in the month of June, 1805,
it was set on fire, and continued burning until the following day, by
which the trunk was considerably injured. The high winds of February,
1820, at last stretched its massy trunk and limbs on that turf which it
had for so many ages overshadowed with its verdant foliage. The wood of
which the pulpit and reading-desk of St. Pancras new church are composed
was a portion of the Fairlop Oak; and are looked upon as matters of
greater curiosity perhaps, on that account, than even the beautiful
grained and highly polished material and the splendid carvings.--ED.]]
Another large tree is mentioned in the same volume (p. 87.) as being
called "Doodle [Query, _dole_ or _boundary_] Oke."
To conclude (if I have not already trespassed too much upon your space),
Is the Fairlop Oak still standing; and, if so, what is its present
condition?