| Notes: | The Leeds Mercury
Saturday, 24 Jan 1846, Page 7
A PARALLEL TO THE SKYRACK OAK. The gigantic relic of the sylvan glories of the “olden time,” called the Winfarthing Oak, stands on the estate of the Right Hon. the Earl of Albemarle, - about four miles from his seat at Quiddenham Hall, Winfarthing, near Diss, Norfolk; in the midst of what was formerly £ldquo;Winfarthing Great Park,” anciently a Royal demesne, belonging to the adjacent Palace of Kenninghall-PIace, from whence Mary, of unhappy memory, was called to the throne in 1553. It is conjectured that this tree must have been in existence before the Christian era; and this opinion is strengthened by the fact, that, notwithstanding the obvious ravages of time upon its massive trunk, yet no perceptible alteration has taken place within the last sixty years. The oak was, in 1820, 70 feet in circumference at the extremity of the roots ; in the middle, 40 feet. The trunk is completely hollow, the “heart” being entirely decayed; and the inside presenting a singular appearance, resembling the old rugged masonry befitting a Druidical temple. |
