The Elephant Oak

Some trees become landmarks through ancient wisdom, unusual form, or ties to history.

The Elephant Oak holds all of these qualities. He is classed as ancient, although in truth he is only middle-aged for an oak. Oaks are not natural woodland trees, they prefer open pasture, or pasture woodland, where they can spread their great canopies wide. When crowded by other trees, they are forced upward, a constraint that shortens their lifespan.

But the Elephant Oak has chosen well. He stands at the woodland’s edge, gazing out across the clearing of Hasley Heath. In this liminal space between wood and open land, he reaches for the light with long, arching limbs.

There is something about his presence - an energy that draws in those who wander off the beaten path, into the old wildwood - Old Sloden Wood, layered with ancestral yews, ancient oaks, and beech trees which have stood here since the time of hillforts and hunting lodges, yet we wander past to find the elephant oak.

He invites you to sit awhile, to share the far-reaching view. And yet, when you rise to leave, you hesitate. For the Elephant Oak himself is a magnificent sculpture - his wandering eye, his twisted, entwined boughs, his mossy socks gripping the earth.

Having observed many trees, not only in form but in energy, I sense the story held within him. His unusual twists speak of a lightening strike in his youth. The scars remain beneath his thick bark. That charge still hums transformed now into a quiet beacon, calling to wildwood wanderers to keep his company - just long enough to stop, enjoy the view and fall completely in love with him.