Quercus robur #2 at Roath Park Botanic Garden

Quercus robur 0

Quercus robur
November 2014

Quercus robur 1

Quercus robur
early June 2015

Quercus robur 2

Quercus robur
early June 2020

Grid reference ST 18558 79262
Common name Common oak
Common name English oak
Origin Europe
Deciduous Yes
Height 18M January 2015
Girth 444cm, January 2015
Age in 2015 Estimated as 236 years[1]
Planted Approx.1779
Reference 032

This tree predates the creation of Roath Park. It is now inside the childrens play area below the promenade. Historically this was the bandstand enclosure with a dancing lawn nearby.

The approximate age of this tree is calculated by estimating its lifetime growing conditions and measuring its girth.[1]

Before the lake and bywash were created the ground was marshland. The course of the Nant Fawr brook went under what is now the middle of the promenade and then flowed in a loop which took in most of the present-day children's playground. It was lined with trees, one of which was this oak tree. The layer of top soil here is shallow and contains pebbles. The land was uncompacted prior to the creation of the park in c.1894, but compaction has since been a problem. This tree is close to the promenade embankment, the construction of which may have been detrimental to the tree owing to a change in soil depth over its root-plate. (Oak trees are particularly susceptible to this effect, which, depending on its severity, may kill or retard the tree's growth.)

The age calculation has been made on the basis that this ground is a "good" site for Common Oak trees.

Doing the calculation on the basis of the growing conditions being good, the age would be approximately 236 years old in 2015, and therefore the tree started growing around 1779. If the site were considered average, the tree is estimated to be approximately 255 years old in 2015, and therefore started growing around 1760.

Quercus robur bark

Quercus robur bark
March 2016

Quercus robur foliage

Quercus robur catkins
early May 2015

Quercus robur leaf

Quercus robur leaves
mid July 2015

Quercus robur fruit

Quercus robur acorns
mid July 2015

Quercus robur fruit2

Quercus robur acorns
early September 2015

General tree description

Quercus robur is a large deciduous tree with a wide spreading crown. In maturity it can reach a height of 20 to 40 metres, and a girth of over 4 metres, exceptionally 12 metres. It has a long lifespan and commonly lives to several hundred years old. There are examples of Quercus robur reaching ages of more than a thousand years. The leaves are around 10cm long with 4-5 deep lobes with smooth edges, and they have very short stalks. Flowering occurs in mid spring, and the fruits, in the form of acorns, ripen in autumn. They come singly or in groups of up to three in cups on a slender stalk.

Sources of Information

  1. Estimating the Age of Large and Veteran Trees in Britain