Longleat’s 235-year-old royal oak takes centre stage

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


1789 saw George Washington chosen as President of the United States, the beginning of the French revolution and Mutiny on the Bounty.

It was also when King George III is said to have planted an oak tree in the grounds of Longleat House in Wiltshire.

235 years on and the tree still stands majestically over the now formal gardens created a decade or so later and the changing colour of its leaves can be seen during the estate’s Great British Autumn event in October half term.

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The visit of the King with his queen, Charlotte, and daughters Charlotte, Elizabeth and August was full of pomp and ceremony as they were accompanied by 45 attendants and liveried servants. The royal party was hosted by the 1st Marquess of Bath, the current Lord Bath’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Detail from Plan of the Lawn and Flower Gardens 1869, north garden (Rolls number 35)
Detail from Plan of the Lawn and Flower Gardens 1869, north garden (Rolls number 35)

Archivist Emma Challinor says a contemporary account at the time records how the dining table was decorated with arches festooned with flowers.

“One of the most famous confectioners in London, James Gunter, was bought in to assist. The records say around the flowers were displayed ‘several elegant figures very prettily dispersed prepared by the ingenious Mr Gunter, of London’, probably referring to sugar sculptures,” says Emma.

“The royal party dined in the room which is now the Green Library. The crimson and gold chairs that they sat on to dine are still at Longleat and can be seen in the Great Hall.

“The fine Sèvres dinner service which family tradition claims to have been purchased especially for the royal visit is also still in the collection at Longleat.

“One contemporary report estimates that nearly 30,000 people gathered in the Park to try and get a glimpse of the King, although in a letter Queen Charlotte suggested it was ‘computed to be 17,000 people’.

“To oblige them the king walked on the roof of the House, greeted by much cheering. He commented on the view from the roof: ‘Notwithstanding the trite descriptions of the grandeur and beauty of Longleat, it far exceeds any idea which I could possibly have formed of it.’

“Some of the activities that the royal family took part in would be familiar to our visitors today – they were given a tour of the House, admiring the portraits; and they visited the menagerie to see the exotic creatures kept there.

“The late 18th century menagerie was located near the entrance to the present-day Safari Park,” she added.

1st Marquess of Bath by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1789, coll. no. 9177
1st Marquess of Bath by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1789, coll. no. 9177

While there isn’t a contemporary record of the tree planting, it is cited from the 19th century in records that two oak trees were planted in the gardens to the north of the House by the King and Queen.

Emma says: “‘King George’s oak’ remains, the Queen’s tree, standing nearby, was cut down when the hard tennis court was put in in 1925. A plan of the gardens at Longleat drawn in 1869 confirms that there were certainly two oak trees of similar size to each other growing there at that date.

“It is worth remembering that at the date when the oak trees were planted, the gardens in this area to the north of the house were not laid out formally and mainly consisted of a grass area punctuated in places by trees.

It was also decided to keep the oaks when the formal gardens were plotted in the early 19th century and the new stableyard was built. This suggests they were of some special significance,” she added.

The Great British Autumn runs from 26 October to 3 November. The family-friendly event offers many seasonal activities whatever the weather from live performances to a haybale slide and includes a scarecrow trail which takes in the King George III tree.