Tree Linked to Robin Hood Legend Experiences Major Life Update, Experts Say

A tree over a millennium old in one of England’s forest reserves and linked to the legend of Robin Hood is believed to have died, according to experts.

The 1,200-year-old oak tree, known as The Major Oak, failed to come into leaf following years of apparent, treatment-defying decline, the U.K.’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said Thursday via a news release.

The tree, located in Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire, in England’s East Midlands region, suffered from a combination of factors including “poor soil, human interventions and a weakened root system”, according to the RSPB’s news release. Metal bracing, props, concrete, and coverings, although well-intentioned as they were used for over a century to preserve the integrity of the Major Oak’s unique shape, prevented it from ageing naturally. Footfalls of millions of visitors compressed the soil around the aged tree’s roots, hampering the free upward movement of water, nutrients, and oxygen to the tree. Some pioneering work to improve the soil conditions around the Major Oak improved the condition of its other plant life around it but proved too little, too late for the Major Oak itself, the RSPB explained.

The iconic tree, with a girth of about 32 feet and a nearly 92-foot crown, was the very first tree recorded on the Ancient Tree Inventory of the Woodland Trust—the U.K.’s largest forest conservation nonprofit, the RSPB stated. The tree is known as the hiding place of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood as he hid from his antagonist, the Sheriff of Nottingham, according to the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve. Its popularity won it the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year title in 2014, according to the RSPB.

“Whilst the tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heart-breaking for everyone—from the many people over the years who have looked after this magnificent tree to the millions who have travelled here to see it—we know the Major Oak will have a lasting legacy, first and foremost because it is so inextricably linked to Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest,” Hollie Drake, Senior Site Manager at RSPB Sherwood Forest partly said, according to the news release.

The Major Oak would continue to stand for years to come and to provide a habitat for various forest life forms, at any rate, and its saplings were being cultivated in various parts of the world, ensuring the preservation of its species, according to the RSPB.

“The Major Oak was the very first tree recorded on our Ancient Tree Inventory, but recording trees alone will not halt their catastrophic decline. We urgently need stronger legal protections for our ancient woods and trees, as well as more investment in their active care,” Ed Pyne, Senior Conservation Adviser at the Woodland Trust, said, according to the news release.