The Greendale Oak
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The "Greendale Oak" was so named from its growing in a valley of that name near Welbeck
In 1779 Major Hayman Rooke* records "This famous oak is thought to be above 700 years old, and from its appearance, there is every reason to suppose it has attained to that age at least. The circumference of the trunk above the arch os 35 feet 3 inches, width about the middle 6 feet 3 inches, height to the top branch 54 feet. The Countess of Oxford [of Welbeck Abbey] had several cabinets made of the branches and ornamented with inlaid representations of the oak".
The principal attraction of the oak lay in its having an archway cut through its trunk which was said to be sufficiently wide for a 'carriage and pair' or three horsemen abreast to pass through.
*(ROOKE, Hayman Descriptions & Sketches of Some Remarkable Oaks in the Park at Welbeck, 1790)