Other nominees include the UK’s widest oak, a tree believed to be more than 1,000 years old, and an ancient specimen shrouded in rainforest bryophytes.

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Published: Friday, 23 August 2024 at 09:24 AM


The Woodland Trust has announced the nominees for the Tree of the Year 2024 competition.

This year’s theme is ‘magnificent oaks’. These wizened trees, synonymous with the British countryside, can live for more than 1,500 years and support 2,300 different species of wildlife, from birds and mammals to insects and plants.

“We chose the iconic oak because it captures people’s imaginations – from their leaves to their acorns, these trees are ingrained in our heritage,” says Dr Kate Lewthwaite, Citizen Science Manager at the Woodland Trust.

“Some oaks that are alive today were already centuries old at the time of Queen Elizabeth I, or Charles Darwin.”

A panel of tree experts chose 11 nominees from across the UK, plus one that was nominated by members of the public. Voting for the Tree of the Year is now open – pick your favourite from the gallery below and cast your vote on the Woodland Trust website. The competition runs until 21 October with a winner announced on 29 October. 

Tree of the Year 2024 nominees

Marton Oak, Cheshire 

Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Approximate age: 1200 years / Girth: 14.02 metres 

Marton Oak. Credit: Rob McBrdie

Standing in a private garden on the aptly named ‘Oak Lane’, the tree must have long been a local landmark. The centre of this sessile oak is totally hollow, with just a few large fragments of the outer bole remaining, leaning outward under their own weight. It may well be in the latter stages of its immense lifespan. 

Vote for the Marton Oak

Bowthorpe Oak, Lincolnshire 

English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 1000 years / Girth: 13.38 metres 

Bowthorpe Oak
Bowthorpe Oak. Credit: Woodland Trust

The second widest tree on our list, the incredible Bowthorpe Oak has a hollow trunk, and it’s claimed three dozen people once managed to stand inside it. Ancient graffiti marks its inner from bygone visitors. It was named one of 50 Great British Trees by the Tree Council in celebration of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. 

Vote for the Bowthorpe Oak

Gregynog Oak, Powys 

Estimated age: 500 years / Girth: 9 metres 

Gregynog Oak
Gregynog Oak. Credit: Liz Fleming Williams

Standing alongside several mammoth trees in Great Wood in the grounds of Gregynog Hall, this incredible ancient tree could well have been admired by the likes of Gustav Holst and George Bernard Shaw, who are known to have visited the property. The area is immensely valuable for wildlife and considered one of Wales’ most important ancient parklands and wood pasture habitats. 

Vote for the Gregynog Oak

Queen Elizabeth Oak, West Sussex 

Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Estimated age: 800-1000 years / Girth: 13.18 metres 

Queen Elizabeth I Oak
Queen Elizabeth I Oak. Credit: Adrian Houston

This majestic, hollow tree is the second largest sessile oak on record (after the Marton Oak) and is one of a few ancient oaks associated with Queen Elizabeth I, who is believed to have been positioned by the tree on a hunting excursion in 1591.  

Vote for the Queen Elizabeth I Oak

Skipinnish Oak, Lochaber 

Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Estimated age: 400+ years / Girth: 8 metres 

Skipinnish Oak
Skipinnish Oak. Credit: Gus Routledge

A large, single-stemmed oak, surrounded by a monoculture of Sitka spruce. Despite its challenging situation, it supports a huge ecosystem in its canopy, with a host of temperate rainforest bryophytes and lichens along its bark. The tree is named after a ceilidh band, whose piper remembered the tree from his childhood, which led to it being recorded. 

Vote for the Skipinnish Oak

The Michael, Midlothian 

Estimated age: 1000+ years / Girth: 10.32 metres 

The Michael
The Michael. Credit: George Anderson, Woodland Trust

This colossal multi-stemmed tree is a hybrid of the UK’s two native oaks, pedunculate and sessile. Its interesting name is probably a corruption of the Scots word ‘meikle’, meaning big, though some believe it was named after The Michael, the largest sailing ship afloat in the 16th century.  

Vote for the The Michael

Tea Party Oak, Suffolk 

English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 700+ years / Girth: 12.80 metres 

Tea Party Oak
Tea Party Oak. Credit: Jim Woolf

Situated on the National Trust’s Ickworth Estate, it predates the 18th century Italianate palace by some margin. A significant tree for local people and wildlife, including bats, this gnarled old oak is thought to be the oldest on the estate and one of Suffolk’s finest ancient trees. It’s named for the tea parties held beneath its boughs for village children in the 19th century.  

Vote for the Tea Party Oak

King John Oak, Somerset 

Estimated age: 1000 years / Girth: 10.74 metres 

King John Oak
King John Oak. Credit: Hazlegrove Preparatory School

Growing in the grounds of a school with over 500 years of history, this magnificent oak has seen countless generations of children grow up alongside it. The school was originally founded in 1519 – when the tree was already around 500 years old. 

Vote for the King John Oak

Darwin Oak, Shrewsbury 

Estimated age: 550 years / Girth: 7 metres 

Darwin Oak
Darwin Oak. Credit: Neil Rowley

This freestanding oak sits very close to The Mount, the childhood home of Charles Darwin, and it’s easy to imagine this impressive tree and its surrounding countryside helped to inspire a young Charles about the natural world.  Sadly, Darwin’s Oak, as it is known locally, and 8 other ancient trees are threated to be felled to make way for the Shrewsbury Bypass. 

Vote for the Darwin Oak

Capon Tree, Scottish Borders 

English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 700-1000 years / Girth: 9.40 metres 

Capon Oak
Capon Oak. Credit: Ann and Steve Toon

One of the last surviving trees of the ancient Jedforest. Its sprawling, distorted form may have saved it from felling, as the wood would have been useless for shipbuilding. For 75 years it has played a key role in the annual Jethart Callant’s Festival, with a sprig from the tree being used to decorate the leading man, or Callant.   

Vote for the Capon Oak

Castle Archdale Oak, Co. Fermanagh 

Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Estimated age: 400+ years / Girth: 7.68 metres 

Castle Archdale
Castle Archdale. Credit: Matt Huddlestone

This tree, with its vast, gnarled trunk now split into two towering stems, was likely standing throughout the building, capture, burning and abandonment of nearby Castle Archdale (County Fermanagh) in the 17th century, now in ruins. The area was a hive of activity during the Second World War too, when Castle Archdale was a military base.   

Vote for the Castle Archdale oak

‘Elephant Oak’, Old Slode Inclosure, Sussex 

Estimated age: 150-300 years / Girth: 3.96metres / Public wildcard nomination

Elephant Oak
Elephant Oak. Credit: Claire Sheppard

This tree takes its name from its unusual shape, and was nominated by supporter Claire Sheppard, who said: “This is my favourite oak tree to photograph at Old Sloden inclosure, New Forest. It’s a pollard oak known as the ‘Elephant Oak’ due to its massive trunk! I hike for around 5km from Abbotswell car park to get there and back, and this wood always gives me goosebumps. It’s not the easiest place to reach and hence it’s always very quiet; I get a real sense of peace and solitude here.” 

Vote for the Elephant Oak

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