Whiteleaved Oak

Whiteleaved Oak is a hamlet in the English county of Herefordshire, lying in a valley at the southern end of the Malvern Hills between Raggedstone Hill and Chase End Hill where the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire meet. It was home to a 500-year-old oak tree, which was thought to be sacred. On 9 July 2020, the tree was destroyed by a fire which broke out due to lanterns being hung on its branches.[1][2]

Whiteleaved Oak
Whiteleaved Oak and Raggedstone Hill
Whiteleaved Oak is located in Herefordshire
Whiteleaved Oak
Whiteleaved Oak
Location within Herefordshire
OS grid referenceSO760359
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Postcode districtHR8
PoliceWest Mercia
FireHereford and Worcester
AmbulanceWest Midlands

Toponymy

In 1584 Henry Dingley, a verderer of Malvern Chase, wrote an account of a perambulation of the chase boundaries. Dingley noted that near the southernmost boundary of the chase grew "...a geate Oake caulled the white leved Oake [which] bereth white leaves."[3]

In The forest and chace of Malvern, its ancient & present state: with notices of the most remarkable old trees remaining within its confines (1877) Edwin Lees wrote:

The "White-leaved Oak" valley between the Ragged-stone and Keysend-hills, keeps in its name the memory of an oak that existed there within memory, whose leaves being variegated with white blotches, caused it to be considered a curiosity and prodigy.[4]

In cultural life

In The Ley Hunter's Companion (1979) Paul Devereux suggested that a 10-mile alignment he called the "Malvern Ley" passed through St Ann's Well, the Wyche Cutting, a section of the Shire Ditch, Midsummer Hill, Whiteleaved Oak, Redmarley D'Abitot and Pauntley.[5]

In City of Revelation (1973) British author John Michell suggested that Whiteleaved Oak is the centre of a circular alignment he called the “Circle of Perpetual Choirs” and is equidistant from Glastonbury and Stonehenge.[6] The suggestion was investigated by the British Society of Dowsers and used as background material by Phil Rickman in his novel The Remains of an Altar (2006).[7]

In Tales From Whiteleaved Oak, Brian Haynes of Whiteleaved Oak has detailed local folklore, gossip and history which he has combined with developments in climate change. The book references the decagon theory of John Michell, and describes how John Gibson-Forty, a dowser, followed each of the 10 ley lines from their centre at Whiteleaved Oak that form the decagon. [8]

Before its destruction, the oak tree was a finalist in the 'Tree of the Year' competition run by the Woodland Trust in 2014.[9]

References
  1. Vesty, Amanda C. (18 January 2021). "The Sacred Whiteleaved Oak - Part 1". ancientsacredtrees. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. "Fire destroys 500-year-old Whiteleaved Oak on Malvern Hills". BBC News. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  3. Smith, Brian S. (1978) [1964]. A History of Malvern. Leicester, United Kingdom: Leicester University Press. pp. 27, 29. ISBN 0-904387-31-3.
  4. Lees, Edwin (1877). The forest and chace of Malvern, its ancient & present state: with notices of the most remarkable old trees remaining within its confines. Herald Office. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  5. Devereux, Paul; Thompson, Ian (1979). The ley hunter's companion: aligned ancient sites : a new study with field guide and maps. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500012083.
  6. Michell, John (1973). City of Revelation: On the Proportions and Symbolic Numbers of the Cosmic Temple. Sphere. ISBN 0349123209.
  7. Rickman, Phil (2006). The Remains of an Altar (Merrily Watkins Mystery). Quercus. ISBN 1905204515. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  8. Haynes, Brian (2013). Tales From Whiteleaved Oak. Whiteleaved Oak: Ragged Stone Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9525058-1-5.
  9. "'Tree of the Year' competition finalists announced". BBC News. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
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