Sapling from one of world’s largest and oldest oak trees planted in same valley as ancient parent
A sapling from one of the world’s largest and oldest oak trees has returned to the land of its father.
Grafted from the Pontfadog Oak, which fell in a storm in 2013, the rare sapling was planted at Chirk Castle.
Three generations of the Morris/Williams family with cared for the original oak when it stood in the Ceiriog Valley, were joined by Welsh Government and National Trust representatives in the planting.
The original Pontfadog Oak was between 1,200 and 1,700 years old when it fell. It stood during the Battle of Crogen in 1165 and featured in Guinness Book of Records as the widest tree in Great Britain.
In 2013, The Crown Estate propagated the original Pontfadog Oak tree and planted a tree in Windsor Great Park. A further five Pontfadog Oaks were then grafted from this tree; three have been gifted to National Trust Cymru and two are cared for by the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
One has now been planted on the Chirk Castle estate, just two miles from where the oak once stood.
Chris Morris, of the Morris/Williams family of Cilcochwyn Farm, said: “The family is delighted that the heritage of the Pontfadog Oak is being continued through this grafted sapling and pleased that one of the saplings is being planted here at Chirk Castle, close enough for us to be able to visit regularly and watch it grow.”
The oak likely started its life as an acorn between AD 367 and AD 814. It witnessed the end of the Roman rule in Britain and Owain Gwynedd defeating the English at the Battle of Crogen in 1165, just a few hundred meters from the tree.
Jo Williams, of Cilcochwyn Farm. has curated the history of the oak for over 70 years, including newspaper cuttings and official documentation dating back to 1971, as well as a timeline of events leading back to 1165.
She said: “For someone else it might be just a tree but it meant more than that for us. We played hide and seek in there, you could put in a table and six chairs and have dinner in it. So many people going back years had carved their initials in it.”
“I’ve known it all my life and have photographs of when I was a little toddler with my mum standing in front of it to pictures of me on my wedding day stood with family and friends.”
Keith Griffith, lead ranger at Chirk Castle, National Trust Cymru said: “It’s a privilege to plant the Pontfadog sapling at Chirk Castle, its DNA is routed in history of the Ceiriog Valley, having served nature, animals and people here for over a millennia.
“We hope the sapling will grow to become an ancient tree of the future, and in 200 years or so, people may be sitting in the shade of the tree at Chirk Castle
