The Allerton Oak is an Irish oak tree in

Calderstones Park Calderstones Park is a public park in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The park is mainly a family park. Within it there are a variety of different attractions including a playground, a botanical garden and places of historical interest. T ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. It is thought to be around 1,000 years old and is described as the oldest oak in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. It is reputed to have been the setting for a medieval hundred court and said to have been damaged in an 1864 gunpowder explosion. The tree won the 2019 English Tree of the Year competition and has been entered into the 2020 European Tree of the Year competition.

History

The Allerton Oak is around 1,000 years old and is thought to pre-date the 1066

Norman Invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

. The tree has a girth of and is thought to be in good health, producing some 100,000 acorns each year. The Allerton Oak is said to have been the site of a medieval hundred court that sat beneath its branches, though some believe that the nearby neolithic burial monument at Calderstones (demolished in the Victorian era) is the more likely site for the court. The tree is also reputed to have been damaged in 1864 when the merchant ship ''

Lottie Sleigh The ''Lottie Sleigh'' was a sailing barque built in 1852. She was transporting of gunpowder on the River Mersey when she exploded on 15 January 1864. There were no deaths but the explosion caused extensive damage to Birkenhead and its effects ...

'', carrying 11 tonnes of gunpowder, exploded on the River Mersey, some away. The detonation blew out the windows of the nearby Calderstones Manor and is said to have caused a large crack in the trunk of the tree which has weakened it structurally. The tree and the land it stands on was owned by Henry and Charles MacIver from 1875 until 1902 when they gave it to the Liverpool Corporation to form Calderstones Park. The tree became a landmark and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

local soldiers were sent acorns and leaves from the tree as good luck tokens from friends and family; as a result seedlings of the tree are thought to have been grown across the world. A report on the tree in 1970 suggested that it would be dead by 2020 due to rot in its trunk; despite this the tree as of 2014 was said to be thriving. In 2007, an acorn from the tree was planted as its successor and the new tree has become known as "Allerton Oak the Younger". The pair are the only two Irish oaks in the park. The branches of the Allerton Oak have been supported with metal props since 1907 and it is fenced off to protect it. As of 2019,

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

and

Mersey Forest The Mersey Forest is a network of woodlands and green spaces being created across Merseyside and North Cheshire by a wide-ranging partnership of different organisations including local authorities, community groups and businesses. The Mersey Fore ...

are undertaking an £80,000 project to replace the props with a modern support system that will be adjustable to accommodate the tree's growth. The

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

described the Allerton Oak as "a spectacular example of a city tree" and valued it at £500,000 in 2019. The Allerton Oak was entered into the Tree of the Year competition in 2019. The tree won the England category with 34% of the 11,000 votes cast and was selected from all the British national winners as the national entry into the 2020 European Tree of the Year competition. The tree won a £1,000 grant from the

People's Postcode Lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

to help pay for its maintenance.

References

{{Reflist Individual trees in England Individual oak trees Tourist attractions in Liverpool