Traffic Whizzes By Big Belly Oak, Savernake

 The ancient royal hunting grounds of Savernake in Wiltshire are home to Big Belly Oak, one of the UK's oldest trees. But today the historic tree sits just inches from the fast moving traffic whizzing by.

Video of Big Belly Oak In Savernake

Savernake Forest “The big bellied oak” Wiltshire-England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🌳: Posted to YouTube on 19 Sep 2018 by Samantha Adams

The 1,100 Year Old Big Belly Oak Tree

Big Belly Oak in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, is about 1,100 years old and was a sapling when William the Conqueror and his barons ruled England.

Let’s hope the ancient oak tree, now sitting in Britain’s only privately owned ancient forest, can cope with the traffic on the A346 passing at high speed just centimetres away from its huge trunk.

It’s a far throw from the tree’s surroundings centuries ago, when the Royal Hunting Forest of Savernake was restricted to the Monarch and his Court. King Henry VIII even met his future wife Jane Seymour here, since her father, Sir John Seymour, was the forest steward.