| Wyndham's Oak | |
| Species: | Pedunculate oak |
| Binomial: | Quercus robur |
| Location: | Silton, Dorset, England |
| Coordinates: | 51.0632°N -2.3094°W |
| Custodian: | [In private ownership] |
Wyndham's Oak (sometimes Judge Wyndham's Oak and also known as the Silton Oak or stumpy Silton) is an historic pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) tree in Silton, Dorset, England.[1] [2] [3] [4] It was one of a number of oaks that historically marked the boundary of between Selwood Forest and Gillingham Forest, a medieval hunting ground.[5]
The tree is up to 1,000 years old, and is the oldest tree in the county of Dorset.[6] As of April 2008, its trunk measured 38feet in circumference—the greatest of any tree in the country—and the bole was 26feet high. It is named after Sir Hugh Wyndham, a Judge of the Common Pleas who used to sit in its shade to relax while contemplating cases, and was reputedly used as a gallows from which to hang rebels convicted of participation in the Monmouth rebellion.
It was the subject of an engraving during the reign of George III, and a drawing by the artist Mark Frith, which was commissioned by publisher Felix Dennis and bequeathed by him to the charity he founded, the Heart of England Forest.[7]
It was one of ten candidates in the Woodland Trust's poll to find the "England's Tree of the Year 2018".[8]
As of September 2019, the ground where the tree stands is part of a privately owned farm.