I remember that rainy summer day when I met the Major like it was yesterday.
After visiting Newstead Abbey, Lord Byron’s ancestral home, I caught a bus to Sherwood Forest.
The morning sky was covered with dark gray clouds, making the green of the forest look very bright. After walking down the road for a while, I started seeing them one after another. The kings of the forest, with their dark brown trunks swollen and twisted branches extending in all directions, whisper to me through the leaves swaying in the wind.
Then I came across a large clearing, and there he stood, a giant of giants, with no other trees around him of similar height or breadth, major oaks.
My eyes darted back and forth, trying to take in the entirety of its impressive silhouette. And for a while I stood there and thought about everything that tree had witnessed, how the land and people around it had changed during its lifetime. Imagine Robin Hood and his friends sitting around it, perhaps celebrating a successful raid with a song and a meal.
There was a German tour group admiring this sight, and their guide explained the difficult task of preserving this fragile tree, and how hot summers like the one we were experiencing at the time made it difficult. And when I looked again at the Major, I saw that many branches had rested on the posts, so that the weight of the centuries had rested on them.
Dark clouds were approaching, prompting us to depart. And that’s what happened when I stepped deep into the forest and felt like I was the only one there again. The rain began to fall in full force and the full force of nature surrounded me. With water running down my face, the smell of oak leaves in my nose, and the thud of rain in my ears, I started running.
Reflecting on my visit with the Major gave me a sense of fleetingness. I was transported back in time several centuries and found myself at one with nature, with no one else but the trees.
After 1,200 years in the shade of Sherwood Forest’s main oak tree, it has lost its leaves and been declared dead. This famous tree is treasured not only for its age, height and beauty, but also for its connection to the legend of Robin Hood, who is said to have hid in its trunk with a band of outlaws to escape the Sheriff of Nottingham. Today, the once vast forest is confined to a 1,000-acre preserve.
This tree was not only appreciated by human admirers, but also provided food and shelter for countless generations of hundreds of insects, fungi, birds and mammals, in an impressive display of concentrated biodiversity.
If you can’t see the graphic, click here to view it.
Sadly, it was people, well-intentioned or not, who caused the tree to die. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a combination of poor soils, human intervention and weakened root systems are the main factors contributing to the decline of the major oak. Climate change and the recent heat waves and droughts that accompany it are exacerbating the challenges facing this tree, the association wrote.
- Species:Stalked oak
- Canopy spread: 92 feet
- Waist circumference: 36 feet
- Height: 52 feet
- Age: Up to 1,200 years old
The Major Oak is neither the oldest nor the largest tree on Earth, but it will be remembered among the precious few. Here are some other impressive ancient people.
Although it is not one of the oldest trees, it is one of the most well-known trees in the world. General Sherman is located in Sequoia National Park and is approximately 2,200 years old. The tree is famous for being the world’s largest tree by volume, weighing approximately 2.8 million pounds, the equivalent of 15 adult blue whales.
- Species: Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
- Height: 275 feet
- Girth: 103 feet
- Location: Sequoia National Park, California
- Age: ~2,200 years
California is home to both the world’s largest and oldest trees. The bristlecone pine Methuselah is estimated to be 4,850 years old, making it the world’s oldest surviving non-clonal tree. It has been able to survive for so long because it grows slowly in cold, dry, high-altitude conditions. Its slow growth allows it to produce an incredibly dense wood that is virtually unaffected by rot, fungi, and pests.
- Species: Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (long-lived pine)
- Height: 32 feet
- Girth: 3 feet.
- Location: Inyo National Forest, California
- Age: ~4,850 years old
Methuselah may be in contention for being the world’s oldest tree, according to recent scientific research. Alerse Millenario, also known as Gran Abuelo, is a Patagonian cypress tree in Chile that is thought to be between 2,400 and 5,500 years old. Aging is difficult because scientists have not been able to drill into the center to accurately determine the number of rings, as the trunk is very wide and the center can rot or decay.
- Tree species: Patagonia cypress (Fitzroya Cupressodes)
- Height: 196 feet
- Girth: 14 feet.
- Location: Alerce Costello National Park, Chile
- Age: 2,400 to 5,500 years old
A Fortingall yew, Europe’s oldest surviving tree, could be found in a churchyard in Scotland. Several yew trees vie for the title of oldest tree, but scientists are having trouble dating them. This is because the tree splits into several different hollow trunks, making one tree look like several different trees.
- Species: European yew (Yew baccata)
- Height: 23 feet
- Girth: 56 feet (1771)
- Location: Fortingall, Perthshire, Scotland
- Age: 2,000 to 5,000 years
“While it is heartbreaking for everyone that this tree will not be leafing out this year, from the many people who have cared for this wonderful tree over the years to the millions of people who travel here to see it, first and foremost we know that Major Oak will leave a lasting legacy as this tree is closely associated with Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest,” wrote Holly Drake, RSPB Sherwood Forest senior site manager.
“But beyond its cultural heritage, major oaks continue to provide important habitat for wildlife, reminding us why these magnificent trees are so important and why it’s important to protect them for the future.”
For more information, please visit the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds website.
