The Gospel Oak was a

veteran tree A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

Polstead Polstead is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. The village lies northeast of Nayland, southwest of Hadleigh and north of Colchester. It is situated on a small tributary stream of the River Stour. Histor ...

, Suffolk. The tree is associated with

Saint Cedd In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, who reputedly planted it or preached beneath it. The

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

tree is thought to have been named for its association with an annual church service, reputedly held beneath it for more than a millennium, and the tree is said to have been the oldest in the county when it collapsed in November 1953. A descendant grows nearby and has since been used as the site for the annual service.

Association with Saint Cedd

The tree is associated with

(died 664 AD), a Northumbrian from the Lindisfarne monastery who preached the gospel in East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. The Gospel Oak is thought to date from around this time and legend holds that Cedd and his monks preached from beneath the tree in the years before the village's St Mary's Church was built. Other legends state that the tree was planted by Cedd or one of his followers. The tree is one of two associated with Cedd, the other is the "Great Oak" at

Great Yeldham Great Yeldham is a village in north Essex, England, about from the Suffolk border. Great Yeldham is situated along the busy main A1017 road (formerly A604) between Braintree, Essex, Braintree and Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill. The village is w ...

, Essex – which lay within Cedd's diocese as bishop of the East Saxons. It has been claimed that the Gospel Oak has been the venue for an annual service for more than a millennium. It is thought that this ceremony is a survival of the

Rogationtide Rogation days are days of prayer and fasting in Western Christianity. They are observed with processions and the Litany of the Saints. The so-called ''major'' rogation is held on 25 April; the ''minor'' rogations are held on Monday to Wednesday ...

tradition of

beating the bounds Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which traditionally involved swatting local landmarks with branches to maintain a shared ...

in which a procession, led by the parish priest, would mark the extent of the parish lands, and ask God for good weather and a bountiful harvest. Such processions often paused under an ancient tree in the parish where the priest would read a sermon from the gospels. As a result these trees became known as "gospel trees". It is known that an annual service has been held at the tree in the first week of August since 3 August 1902, when it was held by the Reverend Francis John Eld.

Later history

The tree was described as the oldest in England in 1903, though this is unlikely given the ages of other known trees. It is, however, thought to have been the oldest tree in Suffolk at around 1,300 years old. It was later incorporated into the grounds of Polstead Hall, visible from the churchyard, and by 1900 stood at in circumference. It collapsed in November 1953 and, as of 2010, its remains were visible near to the village war memorial. A naturally seeded sapling from the tree grows nearby and has been used as the venue for the annual church service, held upon the first Sunday of every August since the loss of the original tree.

References

{{coords, 52.0057, 0.8956, display=title Individual oak trees Individual trees in England Polstead 1950s individual tree deaths