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The Tree that Hid a King: The Royal Oak at Boscobel, Shropshire

The Tree that Hid a King: The Royal Oak at Boscobel, Shropshire AbstractThe Royal Oak at Boscobel in Shropshire is among the country's best-known historic trees, not least because of its frequent adoption as a public house name. Tradition has it that it was within the branches of this tree that Charles II was successfully concealed during hisflight from defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, an event which within a few years attached renown to Boscobel, and to the Royal Oak itself. Contemporary sources allow the tree to be identified as a recently lopped pollard, and thereby explain how it acted as a hide. It can also be seen how the Boscobel woodlands were incorporated as a part of an early seventeenth-century idealised landscape centred on Boscobel House, a hunting lodge and a place of Roman Catholic concealment. The later history of the tree is discussed, and how its fame led to its premature demise and replacement by the present Royal Oak. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Landscapes Taylor & Francis

The Tree that Hid a King: The Royal Oak at Boscobel, Shropshire

Stamper, Paul
Landscapes , Volume 3 (1): 17 – Apr 1, 2002
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2002 Maney
ISSN
2040-8153
eISSN
1466-2035
DOI
10.1179/lan.2002.3.1.19
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractThe Royal Oak at Boscobel in Shropshire is among the country's best-known historic trees, not least because of its frequent adoption as a public house name. Tradition has it that it was within the branches of this tree that Charles II was successfully concealed during hisflight from defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, an event which within a few years attached renown to Boscobel, and to the Royal Oak itself. Contemporary sources allow the tree to be identified as a recently lopped pollard, and thereby explain how it acted as a hide. It can also be seen how the Boscobel woodlands were incorporated as a part of an early seventeenth-century idealised landscape centred on Boscobel House, a hunting lodge and a place of Roman Catholic concealment. The later history of the tree is discussed, and how its fame led to its premature demise and replacement by the present Royal Oak.

Journal

Landscapes – Taylor & Francis

Published: Apr 1, 2002

References