Ancient Blenheim oaks to be used in historic house reconstruction

An authentic reconstruction of a Saxon house will use oak trees from the Blenheim Estate’s ancient woodland, it has been announced.

Timbers for the replica Saxon dwelling, which is being erected at Witney’s Coggs Manor Farm, have been specially selected from the UNESCO world heritage site in Oxfordshire.

Head of Operations at Blenheim Palace and Trustee at Cogges Manor Farm, Emily Spencer, said: “It is brilliant for Blenheim to be able to use our Estate as a resource for another great local enterprise to utilise.

“We are really excited to see how the construction goes and can’t wait to see the final product, we feel very honoured to be involved in such a fantastic project.”

Recent research claims that the estate is home to Europe’s largest collection of ancient oak trees, with one area, known as High Park, thought to have been created by Henry I, who ruled England from 1100 until his death in 1135.

Around 90 per cent of the woodland is made up of oak trees, and, of these, around 60 are estimated to date back to the Middle Ages. Instead of these, younger trees which provide the correct length and width of timber have been selected for the reconstruction.

Nick Baimbridge, Blenheim Estate’s Rural Manager, said: “We have been working with McCurdy & Co, the timber-frame building specialists who built the Globe Theatre in London, to select specific trees for the project at Cogges,”

“The trees we have chosen are ones that are growing quite closely together and the extra space created by their felling will give the surrounding trees more space to mature over the coming decades and centuries.”

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High Park is special because it is a type of habitat known as wood-pasture, made up of ancient and veteran trees mingling with smaller growing trees, shrubs, woodland and grassland. In wood-pasture, the impact of grazing and browsing animals play an important role.

This complex mosaic of habitats supports a wide range of plants and animals including specialist insects that rely upon decaying wood for their survival. Wood pasture is a rare habitat nationally, and High Park has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Melanie Marsh, Director of Cogges, said: “It’s been a privilege to work with Blenheim and benefit from Nick’s invaluable experience managing the ancient woodland.

“We’re very grateful to Blenheim for donating the oak trees in support of this important community project and we look forward to progressing the build with Cogges volunteers in the coming months.”

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