THE BOWTHORPE OAK, LINCOLNSHIRE

Nowhere has so many awe-inspiring ancient oaks as England. The interior of the Bowthorpe Oak was used as a dining room in the 18th century.

They have been blasted by lightning, or the heartwood has softened and decayed, so it is not possible to count the annual growth rings, and carbon-dating only works on dead matter – our oaks still live. But some are more than 500 years old. They are gouty and shrunken from what they used to be, inordinately fat. A dense green canopy has been reduced to a scattering of leaves, but the indignities of age are borne nobly.