Planting Of The Trafalgar Oak

20^th October 2005

An English oak tree was planted by the children of Leafield School, to commemorate the use of oak trees to build the ships which fought in the battle of Trafalgar 200 years ago.

In those days all ships were built of wood - the warships like the Victory, and the cargo ships which traded all over the world. To build a warship needed 3,500 mature oak trees, growing in 80 acres of oak forest. After the trees were felled some of the initial sawing and trimming was probably done in the forest. Then the massive timbers had to be transported to the dockyards which were situated by the sea or on a river estuary. That was a long journey for timbers from the Wychwood forest.

Certain sections of the ship’s framework had to be made from a single piece of oak, for example the 30 foot stern post which took some of the greatest stresses of the ship, had to be made from a whole trunk, (a stern post made from joined up timbers would soon fail). These trees were usually found in the middle of a wood, where they grew up straight and tall. Other important pieces were large branches which had grown at right angles to the main trunk, or had turned at angles as they grew.

The piece of oak chosen for the Trafalgar Oak sign is an example of a small knee-shaped branch. Oak trees growing in parks, or on the edge of a wood were most likely to have these outward spreading branches. From these, using part of the trunk and the branch, the shipwrights were able to cut the huge right angle brackets which joined the deck beams to the sides of the ship. These pieces were called rising knees. If you look at the little oak trees in the Community Woodland, you will see how the branches spread out sideways.

2005 diary index