King of Limbs, Savernake Forest

3D Model

The King of Limbs Oak is believed to be ~1000 years old & is located within the Savernake Forest. Savernake Forest is a coppice-with-standards forest & an Ancient Woodland. A coppice is a wood where broad-leaved trees, such as hazel, grow out of the stumps from previous cuttings. Standards are trees allowed to grow to maturity & beyond. Hundreds of veteran beech & oak trees can be found within Savernake Forest which is believed to have the largest concentration of veteran trees in Europe. These veteran trees can be found singly, in tree avenues, amongst younger broad-leaved trees& within coniferous plantations. This extraordinary ancient oak has been shedding branches & rotting down slowly for centuries. It inspired Radiohead’s album of the same name.

The SCATTER project was funded by the Woodland Trust & carried out by researchers from UCL with logistical support & ancient oak expertise from The Ancient Tree Forum. If visiting ancient trees, please be respectful to these living legends and their custodians.