Major Oak, a huge, ancient 1,200-year-old oak in Sherwood Forest associated with the legend of Robin Hood, is said to have died — literally, for love.
The legendary Major Oak that stands tall in Sherwood Forest has died after failing to produce leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (), a British bird protection organization, announced on Thursday.
Over the past two centuries, visitors who admired the twisted branches and spreading crown of the 1200-year-old tree compacted the soilmaking it difficult for rainwater to reach the roots, the conservation organization explained.
Sherwood Forest in Nottingham has been threatened for years and, in the past, rumors had already emerged about the tree’s death — which the organization always ended up denying, confirming that continued alivetells .
This time, however, it wasn’t like that. “It breaks everyone’s heart that the tree hasn’t produced leaves this year,” he said. Hollie Drakefrom the RSPB, in which he announces the death of the ancient oak.
Legend has it that the tree gave shelter to Robin Hoodthe legendary 13th century outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor and took refuge in the woods when pursued by the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The tree received its name after being mentioned in 1790 in a book on oaks by Major Hayman Rookewhich attracted the first wave of admirers to the forest.
It’s impossible to determine what killed the treebut the footprints of millions of people contributed to its fall, along with interventions to prop up the huge branches with cables and stakes. Climate change, which brought heat waves and drought, was also pointed out as responsible.
Tree experts found that the root system was strangled and deprived of nutrients. “Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘white rhinos of UK conservation’, but their decline is much less visible,” he said. Ed Pyne,da ONG.
“Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear in silence, without the recognition or care given to Major Oak,” adds Pyne.
In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for the Sherwood oaks that supplied timber for Royal Navy ships of vice admiral Horatio Nelson, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and for the roof of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
O Major Oak was spared from cutting and has been protected by a fence since the 1970s.
“Major Oak will continue to rise in the heart of Sherwood, as a natural monument that visitors can come and seeperpetuating itself in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide so much support to the forest ecosystem — in death as in life“, stated Hollie Drake.
