According to a report in The Times of 14 November 2014, the Major Oak [Quercus robur] in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, has been voted England’s Tree of the Year in a Woodland Trust poll.

The tree is reputed to be a meeting place for the outlaw Robin Hood and his Merry Men, but, in fact, it is estimated to be about 800 years old, and is therefore too young to have provided shelter for the outlaw gang.  According to the Times report the Oak is ‘thought to be several trees that fused together as saplings’.

Update 18 June 2026:  On 17 June 2026 it was announced on BBC Radio 4 news that the Major Oak had produced no leaves in the spring and therefore it has been concluded that it has died.

Image: postcard posted 8 July 1978.