Legendary Oak's Demise
Sherwood Forest's 1,200-year-old Major Oak declared dead after long decline
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Key Points
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The tree’s scale is unusually specific: the Major Oak has an estimated canopy spread of about 28 meters (92 feet) and a trunk circumference of about 11 meters (36 feet), underscoring why its decline is so prominent for visitors and researchers.
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Conservation protection measures included physical bracing and later barriers—branch supports were installed in the early 20th century, braces were fitted as far back as 1904, and the tree was fenced off in the 1970s to manage heavy footfall.
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The most recent climate stress highlighted by experts includes a concrete benchmark: the RSPB-linked reporting points to July 2022, when the UK reached record temperatures of 40°C, with the tree’s “most recent decline” corresponding with five very hot, droughty summers.
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Beyond Robin Hood, the Major Oak is described as an extraordinarily old landscape survivor: it “predates the Norman Conquest” and was long before associated accounts describe other Sherwood oaks being taken for major national projects such as helping build Nelson’s navy and supplying timber to raise the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral.
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Tourism waves and the tree’s name trace to a named historical work: reporting says the Major Oak became widely known after being mentioned in a 1790 book by Major Hayman Rooke, which “began the first proper waves of tourism to the forest” and helped fix the name ‘Major Oak’ in public imagination.
The Major Oak, a roughly 1,200-year-old tree in Sherwood Forest and one of England's most beloved natural landmarks, has died after failing to produce a single leaf this spring — the first time in recorded history it has gone silent RSPB. Experts from the RSPB and a panel of soil scientists confirmed its death on June 17–18, 2026, pointing to a cascade of causes: centuries of tourist damage, soil compacted to the density of concrete, and five consecutive hot, dry summers capped by the UK's record 40°C heat in July 2022 The Guardian.
How Two Centuries of Visitors Strangled the Roots
The Major Oak draws around 350,000 visitors a year. For most of those years, people walked freely over its root system, climbed inside its hollow trunk, and packed the soil down tight West Bridgford Wire. By the time scientists tested the ground in 2021, soil beneath the canopy was as dense as concrete more than a meter deep — blocking the water, oxygen, and nutrients the tree needed to survive.
The RSPB installed a fence in the 1970s to stop further foot traffic over the roots. Iron braces had been fitted as far back as 1904 to prop up its sprawling limbs RSPB. But independent arboriculturalists argue those well-meaning props may have done more harm than good — preventing the tree from flexing naturally and building what experts call
Five Brutal Summers Pushed the Tree Past the Brink
Soil damage alone did not kill the Major Oak. Starting around 2018, the tree endured five straight years of extreme heat and drought RSPB. The breaking point came in July 2022, when the UK hit a record 40°C — temperatures that stress even healthy trees. For a tree already struggling to pull water through compacted soil, it was devastating.
Simon Parfey of SoilBioLab led a five-year soil restoration project that used air-spading and microbial treatments to try to loosen and revive the ground. His team found encouraging signs of life in some areas. But, he concluded, the damage from two centuries of human impact was "already too deeply entrenched to fully reverse" Yahoo News.
A Tree That Predates the Norman Conquest and Robin Hood
The Major Oak is estimated to have germinated around 800–900 AD — predating the Norman Conquest of 1066 by up to two centuries Border Telegraph. Its trunk measures about 11 meters (36 feet) around, and its canopy spreads roughly 28 meters (92 feet) wide. At an estimated 23 tons, it is one of the largest oak trees in Europe.
Its link to Robin Hood is legend rather than history, but its fame is very real. In 1790, antiquarian Major Hayman Rooke published a book describing the oak by name — and that single publication "began the first proper waves of tourism to the forest," fixing both the tree's name and its myth in the public mind East Lothian Courier. Other Sherwood oaks were felled over the centuries to supply timber for Nelson's navy and the roof of St Paul's Cathedral. This one survived — until now.
What Remains: Saplings, Science, and a Living Monument
The tree will not be cut down. The RSPB plans to leave it standing as a natural monument, where its decaying wood will shelter fungi, beetles, and birds for decades RSPB. Hollie Drake, the RSPB's senior site manager, said the tree "will continue to provide important habitat for wildlife, reminding us why protecting them for the future matters."
The Major Oak's genetic line will live on. The RSPB and Nottinghamshire County Council have grown saplings from its acorns for years, and those offspring have already been planted at sites around the world Daily Mail. The data from the five-year soil project will also be used to protect other at-risk ancient trees across Europe. Dr. Ed Pyne of the Woodland Trust put it plainly: "The way we treat ancient trees today will shape whether they survive for future generations."
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