“From little acorns mighty oaks grow”, or as is the case on Dartmoor, “From little acorns oaks of all sizes grow”, from the dwarf oaks of Wistman’s Wood to the ancient ‘Royal Oak of Meavy‘. Normally one could say that many of the native trees do not occur on the high moor but in the case of the oak there are two remaining oak groves at altitudes of over 1,300ft, Black-a-Tor Copse (1,319ft) and Wistman’s Wood (1,350ft). Then as you progress down to the lower moorlands the oak tree becomes common in the woods, hedgerows, and fields. The mighty oak has always been the major source of wood and timber for numerous purposes from buildings to tables and shipbuilding to fencing. Oak wood was a vital source of charcoal which was used as an industrial fuel. The leaves and acorns were an important source of animal browse and fodder. Its bark has been used in numerous processes such as tanning, dyeing, ink making, and pottery glazes. It was such an important tree that at one time it was said that from birth a baby was laid in an oaken cradle and every day after came into daily contact with some form of oak until the last connection with a oaken coffin.
There are place-names that on first impressions refer to the oak tree, but as always this does admirably illustrate the need for caution when looking at place-names. The town of Okehampton, to me, would seem a safe bet for a connection with the oak, but no, it stems from ‘tun’ or homestead by the river Okement. Ok, so perhaps the river Okement is a reference to the oak tree, once again no, its earliest form of 1244 was aqua de Okem (Old Welsh, aku – swift) and m (Old Welsh, myned – to go) thus arriving at the river that ‘swiftly goes’. On the other hand we then have what is now known as the O’ Brook which has derived from Ocbroke which is suggested to mean the ‘Oak Brook’. There are then the usual Oak Hill, Oaken Combe, Oakmoor, and the enigmatic Oak and the Ash which is located near Sandly Hole Pass (OS grid reference SX 622 813) and is said to refer to a site where both trees once stood. Again, this is located at an altitude of nearly 1,500ft which although no problem for an Ash tree is high for an oak.
There are several local dialect words for the oak tree; Chitjack, Cups and Saucers, and Oak-mas and plenty of folklore concerning the tree. In Celtic times the oak tree was worshipped as being the embodiment of the god Teut. In the old Celtic calendar there were 13 months which was measured from one full moon to the next. The oak tree gave its old name of Duir to the period which ran from June to July. Later the oak was regarded as a symbol of Tarnawa who was the god of thunder. The most common and association with the tree was the sacred oak groves of the Druids and this manifests itself at Wistman’s Wood. Here it was thought the ancient rites and rituals of the sacred order were carried out. As the centuries passed much of the woodlands were felled which left individual oak trees standing prominent in the landscape. These individual trees then became an integral part of local tradition and custom. This gave rise to several distinct types of oak trees such as;
Shire Oaks – oak trees which marked the boundaries of shires
Cross Oaks – a stone cross and an oak placed at crossroads, ie Hawson’s Cross
Gospel Oaks – oak trees on the parish boundary where gospels were read during the beating of the bounds.
Bull Oaks – large, hollow trees where livestock could shelter.
Turnpike Oaks – large, hollow oaks beside a road where toll collectors would shelter.
Then, as with the rest of the country was the famous ‘Oak Apple Day’ which took place on the 29th of May, some say this replaced many of the traditional May Day celebrations. The ‘roots’ of this tradition stem back to 1651 when after the battle of Worcester, King Charles II escaped from the Roundheads by hiding in an oak tree. Then when he returned to London in 1660 he introduced Oak Apple Day to celebrate his escape and also to commemorate his birthday. It was local custom that people would wear oak leaves or oak apples to mark the occasion