Entertainment Swindon

This famous sessile oak can be found in the Royal Forest of Savernake, has a girth of more than 11m. The tree has allegedly been around since the time of William The Conqueror and is estimated to be 1000 to 1100 years old.

Wiltshire’s Big Belly Oak can be seen from the side of the A346 on the left hand side of the road as you head south, but very few of the thousands of motorists who pass it each day will realise the extent of its history.

Located in Savernake Forest, on the outskirts of Marlborough would have taken route sometime between 900 and 1000AD, making it older than William the Conqueror who was born in 1028 is he was still alive today.

The Big Belly Oak, named as such for its 11-metre girth, is easily the oldest tree still standing in Savernake Forest.

But this old tree has its health just as we humans do as we get to old age and the Big Belly Oak has faced its own share of old-age issues.

The ancient tree has a large cavity in the middle of it, caused when the tree was pollarded, meaning that it was cut two-thirds up its trunk.

This cut was made to encourage new branches to grow, which they did, but the boughs on either side of the centre trunk then became so heavy they created a cavity to form.

It is currently the largest cavity of any pollarded tree in the Savernake Forest.

In 2001, the tree was so in danger of splitting in two, that it was fitted with a metal corset.

The Big Belly Oak is not only Savernake Forest’s oldest tree, but it has also racked up several awards for the 4,500-acre forest in Wiltshire.

As part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, the tree was officially named one of the Fifty Great British trees due to the large number of monarchs that have reigned since the tree took root.

The Big Belly Oak has lived through almost every page of your school history book: including the medieval, Tudor, Elizabethan, Stuart, Jacobean, Georgian, Victorian and post-world war time periods.

Savernake Forest is a lovely free day out for the family who loves days out in the ‘Great Outdoors’. And the best thing about it, is that this forest area and the Big Belly Oak is on Swindon’s doorstep.

How to find Savernake Forest:

Sat Nav Postcode: 

SN8 4ND

Address: Postern Hill, Savernake Forest, Marlborough, SN8 4ND

Travelling by Car:

Via M4, at junction 15 take the A346 through Marlborough, Savernake Forest is accessible from there onwards.

OS Grid Ref

SU198679