Oak trees in history

• The oak tree has been worshipped and revered by druids, the Anglo Saxons, the Greeks, and the Romans, to name a few. The Romans dedicated the tree to Jupiter!

• One tree in Windsor, planted during the reign of King John, has seen 35 monarch reigns in it's 800 years of life!

• Sherwood Forest's 'Major Oak' has been the suject of many ballads

• A very rare oak tree is used to make cork... the bark is harvested from each tree every nine years to make wine corks, insulation, and more.

• There are over 300 varieties and species of oak tree

• Oak trees have featured on British coinage... one of the oldest being the sixpence, and even the shilling.

• King Charles II hid inside an oak tree after his defeat in 1651. The tree is called the Royal Oak.

• The Mary Rose, made of oak, sank in 1545 after an attempt by King Henry VIII to fight off the French. The ship sank, and yet now, it's remains are in Portsmouth's naval dock, surviving all that time (well, most of it) underwater!

• Oak has medicinal properties: as an antiseptic it is used as an aid to haemorrhaging and diahhoreah.

• Oak bark extract is widely used for tanning leather

• Oak is virtually indestructible when it matures, which is why it's been used for centuries in home building, flooring and shelter

• The River Severn, which snakes around Sabrina Oak Doors home of Shrewsbury, has oak breakwaters which are still in use today—after allegedly been set by the Romans

• Edward the Confessor's shrine in Westminster Abbey is made from oak, and is still solid after 800 years

• 1000 year old oak logs have been removed from peat bogs, as solid as the day they were lost there

• Scottish highlanders used oak to dye their yarns. Oak dye can turn wool a purple colour.