In
the borough
of Enfield
there is an
oak tree called
the Minchenden
Oak which
may be as
much as eight
hundred years
old!
Imagine
all the changes
it has seen
in that time
- all the
different
people who
may have met
under it all
the time it
was growing,
and all the
different
conversations
it may have
overheard.
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In
1200
the Minchenden
Oak would
have been
a young
tree,
struggling
to survive,
one of
many thousands
in the
great
forest
of Middlesex.
Perhaps
it was
near to
one of
the forest
tracks
leading
to London.
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| Standing
beneath the
tree, I can
see: |
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| What
I will say to
my friend: |
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By
1500
the Minchenden
Oak would
have been
a mature
tree.
What do
you think
the countryside
would
have been
like at
that time?
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| Standing
beneath the
tree, I can
see: |
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| What
I will say to
my friend: |
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By
1800
the Minchenden
Oak was
in the
grounds
of the
Minchenden
Estate,
one of
the great
estates
in the
area and
owned
by the
Duke of
Chandos.
At this
time,
the Minchenden
Oak was
believed
to be
the largest
tree in
England.
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| Standing
beneath the
tree, I can
see: |
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| What
I will say to
my friend: |
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Today,
the Minchenden
Oak forms
part of
Minchenden
Oak Gardens,
which
was opened
in 1934
as a Garden
of Remembrance.
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