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Domesday Oak
Set in beautiful wooded country south-west of Hitchin, Kings Walden is a scattered parish with the Kings Walden Park estate at its centre.
There are about 300 oaks across the estate, most of which are between 300 and 400 years old. The trees are believed to have been planted when the land (which was formerly arable) was planted as a deer park.
The oldest oak on the estate has been named the Domesday Oak because it is thought to be up to 1,000 years old. The tree has been pollarded and was probably part of a much older landscape, originally growing in a hedgerow. Project volunteer Verity can be seen here measuring the girth of the Domesday oak - it was 11m.
The trees on Kings Walden Park estate have been recorded as part of a Veteran Tree Survey. Veteran trees are in the ancient stage of their life. Their great age makes them of interest biologically, aesthetically and culturally. Any English (pedunculate) oak with a girth of over 6¼m is truly ancient.
The importance of veteran trees
Location
Kings Walden Park
Grid Reference
TL164231
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