Walking to England's oldest Oak tree: Majesty.

Me and my 6 yo daughter walk from a tiny and very oddly carved church - St Nicholas Barfrestone - via some astonishing chestnuts - to Majesty, England's largest and oldest virgin Oak tree, never pollarded.
Barfrestone was locked. But its treasure is largely outside. Majesty Oak is in Fredville Park, and can be reached by permission of the lady who lives beside it. First door on the left under the gateway, knock and ask her before roaming around. And do take her healthy gifts. Plus something nice for the Oak.
We met below Majesty a gang of the loveliest hippy youths imaginable. I'd forgotten such kind helpful folk were still getting made. Honestly, they bubbled like the springs from the chalk, strong and pure. I liked this meeting. But it felt askew to film them. Perhaps that's something I need to work on...
x

[@mt.shasta6097]

Can't believe that no one remarked on the lovliness of a man walking with his little daughter, showing her the historical church and trees, teaching her to participate in his personal rituals, honoring the past and tradition. The pair were as beautiful as anything else we saw. People have tunnel vision at times.

[@WillWalking]

thank you.

[@peytoncoleman6044]

And that sweet dog! Beautiful video.

[@justanamerican9024]

Seeing them together reminded me of being with my daughter when she was a girl. We were the center of each other's life then. Now we go months without talking because she is so busy raising her own family. Cherish EVERY moment you get with your child, it is precious beyond measure to both of you.

[@thomasennenga6908]

AMEN ​@@justanamerican9024

[@andnowi]

@@justanamerican9024 sad but

[@Laserblade]

Just to stand in the presence of that glorious Oak would evoke awe.

[@ridesrambles8903]

A walk in a woodland, with daughter and dog, the simple pleasures in life.

[@Constance-cl3wg]

That’s an impressive tree. Very comforting looking.

[@ElyRyger]

Wow. Its so sad to know that we have lost so many old trees. How different our world view would be, if we were surrounded by these giants

[@jmack8767]

The silliest thing is they are self-perpetuating and self-sowing. We don't really even have to put any effort into it. And we are running around replacing it all with expensive, ugly concrete nonsense!

[@ctcollinthib]

What a tree! And this music is beautiful

[@bertblue9683]

A national treasure. I've been a horticulturalist for 50 years and it never gets boring. Always something amazing.

[@HyloWard]

❤❤ Always ❤❤💕👽

[@antonycanova52]

I visited and photographed this oak back in 2003, before it lost it's two massive limbs. I met John Plumptree at the Royal Oak pub across the street from Fredville Park and he personally escorted me to see the tree. The pub is now gone from what I hear. He made quite an impression. And the tree is a wonderful memory for me.

[@WillWalking]

The pub is alas lost. But Majesty lives on, and shall outlive us all...

[@kimhorton6109]

I can only imagine. Old trees are just awe. Inspiring. I was at an estate near Ambleside that had Two Redwoods and two Sequoia trees in their park. They were only a bit over 120 years old but huge. I got dizzy looking up.

[@johnr5252]

That’s a gnarly looking old tree. Awesome.

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

What a beautiful tree!, what a beautiful video!.

[@robertodebeers2551]

Imagine when England was a forest and the deer were unafraid.

[@bsmythe3214]

Weren't afraid, except of the ancient tribes hunting them.

[@thunorwodenson]

The oak has profound importance for English traditional religion. The Chief God of the AngloSaxons was Woden. His son Thunor (Thor, Donar) was signified all across the Germanic world by an Oak tree. The place of worship for the Germanic tribes was always the largest Oak tree. The Christians deliberately cut down the largest Oak in Germany in order to stamp out the worship of the old Gods.

[@WillWalking]

This is true and good information to share, thank you.

[@thunorwodenson]

@@WillWalking I love your channel and your singing! Thank you for sharing your interests and talents with the world. You enrich us thereby.

[@tweezerjam]

Wow those really are majestic!

[@DS-xg9kf]

Quite the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a while. Thank you.

[@grahampestridge4368]

Beautiful

[@ohelsi]

The Church is no less majestic than the Oak tree. A delightful work of man and nature!

[@WillWalking]

Indeed. It's a wonderful mile, in an often overlooked corner of old East Kent. Thanks for watching!

[@thunorwodenson]

I doubt the presence of a church at that spot is a coincidence. The largest Oak was the place of worship for Germanic pagans. Thunor was symbolized by the Oak. The Christians built their churches at ancient holy sites.

[@madsleonardholvik3040]

If I want to go from London and do this walk and I go by public transport, where do I get off and where do I start the walk? Thanks!

[@user-sp3wd2nn3e]

The oak is a work of God's creation (it didn't self-assemble obviously ..as per evolution fantasy).

[@Siegfried5846]

@@thunorwodenson True. Christianity is antiwhitism.

[@marcusaetius9309]

Absolutely fantastic! Let’s hope this one can avoid the idiots who felled the sycamore gap tree.

[@WillWalking]

thank you for such kind words!

[@ericwanderweg8525]

Beautiful trees, architecture, and the music you put to all the imagery was perfect. Very moving short video. Thanks from New England USA

[@roundtowerproductions]

Real special moments there captured on camera. The tree was spectacular but the energy out for a walk with family and Dog is everything. Big Oak Tree Fan here!

[@joeesposito5101]

Wow, that was a beautiful journey in 2 minutes. Thank you.

[@trustmemysonisadoctor8479]

That is a wonderful tree.

[@adriangreenoff9163]

These small moments in time with our kids and dogs,in nature mean so much as time flies onwards.This is what it's all about,beautiful film.

[@roundtowerproductions]

Completely agree, was captured beautifully in this.

[@user-qy2yw5ed3d]

Now that`s what you call a tree!

[@GetUpTheMountains]

That one out to be a little tougher for the local miscreants to saw down in the middle of the night. 👍

[@elauadeinsf]

What a beautifully filmed little taste of this scenery

[@benjamingalili511]

It’s no wonder some of our ancestors worshipped trees

[@WillWalking]

Well said!

[@nalanosbod1]

I have been going for over 40 years yearly to visit a specific oak in a local wood it's a personal pilgrimage

[@petemc5070]

Epic soundtrack for a walk that gave so much.

[@whatthetreetaughtme]

Beautiful film, thank you!

[@WillWalking]

thank you!

[@karnak50]

Beautiful tree long my it stand

[@scorpiorob7986]

Beautiful video man. Thankyou. We must fight to restore the magnificence and beauty of NATURE. NATURE is SUPREME and DIVINITY manifest! (Something all of us who are Pagan, have always known).

[@friedrichjunzt]

makes me wonder how many children with their parents this old tree has seen, running around its trunk, giving them shadow in the summer time, climbing in its branches like big squirrels

[@williamturner6366]

beautiful it reminds of when i took my 2 beautiful daughters walking in the cheshire countryside. and they have never lost their love of our wonderful history and country.

[@homebrandrules]

thankyou for sharing these precious moments

[@commiexian]

Thank you so much for this. I’m from Folkestone originally, but I haven’t lived there for a number of years now. This makes me want to return and walk some of those ancient Kent paths and meet the stories and the trees along the way.

[@WillWalking]

The land awaits you!

[@Taskerofpuppets]

Fantastic video, mate. Lovely, really.

[@WillWalking]

Thank you!

[@bettyboo501]

Beautiful video .. Has inspired me to seek out this magnificent tree. The oak tree has a special significance for me given my surname is Holyoak :)

[@WillWalking]

What a great name! I hope you find her!

[@madsleonardholvik3040]

Beautiful! Thanks for this magical video. I'm going from Norway to London during Easter to visit the oak!

[@WillWalking]

Wow! I hope you found her!

[@12TribesUnite]

WONDERFUL !

[@sandrasmith6041]

It looks so beautiful!🦋

[@WillWalking]

it is beautiful!

[@andrewhanson5942]

Yes, quite a different KZbin video than most of them that come my way. I liked it.

[@WillWalking]

I'm glad!

[@ianirvine1924]

Beautiful video. Thank you

[@donald4624]

I realize I'm late to the party, but that was fun to watch thank you for sharing.

[@cliffordwaterton3543]

"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree..." Please tell me these Wonders are protected...on pain of death.

[@juliesunshine333]

I want to climb it and spend the day up there with the birdies.

[@ohelsi]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ronaldwinfield307]

I am 4/5 British but have never been to the old country. Thank you for the video.

[@WillWalking]

my pleasure, come down sometime and wander...

[@chesterthawkins7510]

Amazing!

[@MrPhotodoc]

The tree was meant for the girl. She is a princess.

[@WyeExplorer]

Incredibly spirited walk Will. I was with you all all the way. Mark

[@WillWalking]

Thank Mark! I hope the Wye flows well for you!

[@WyeExplorer]

@@WillWalking A pleasure Will. It is flowing beautifully. I just completed the Wye Valley Walk. Free will but if interested here is the link to part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZCulJukaL1qirM it to is spirited. Have a great weekend.

[@user-fm1kd7mz5e]

Wow

[@JoeK4444]

Dude that video was awesome in every way 👍

[@moogdome2562]

Oaky Oaky,,pig in a pocky. Absolutely beautiful presentation. It would have been better if we were told, Where it is in England?'

[@WillWalking]

Good point! It's in East Kent, near Barfrestone...

[@Terrastock]

amazing!!

[@WillWalking]

Thank you! She's a mighty tree indeed.

[@NCTurbulence]

I'd swap not have the Internet and losing WiFi to have more trees any day.

[@WillWalking]

agreed.

[@danhealyeverythingoutdoors7105]

Incredible video !

[@WillWalking]

incredible tree! thanks!

[@dallassteel625]

When would be a good time to visit this majestic 800 year old tree? I’d love to take my gf there one day.

[@WillWalking]

It's on private land, and the owner is elderly. The protocol is to knock on her door and ask nicely to visit Majesty. So I imagine the best time would be within reasonable daylight hours?

[@dallassteel625]

Makes sense. I will do that. Hope you’re having a great day!

[@alpamale6504]

people/the landowner should start growing new tree from the old oak tree branch cuts to preserve the lifeline of the tree. the tree is too lovely

[@WillWalking]

I think people do collect the acorns and grow them anew. This is not uncommon, I believe...

[@bkkarma178]

put up Cameras we like ARE HISTORY . X

[@scottprather5645]

It doesn't look real. I just mind-boggling

[@JamesJones-cx5pk]

What kind of oak? We have "Live" oaks here in states who's branches droop down and touch the ground. When the tree dies, it's branches create new trees. You often find a circle of live oak trees where the mother tree has totally rotted and is gone.👍

[@adrianjones4812]

Quercus robur English Oak. Some of the trees in the video were Spanish Sweet Chestnut trees that grow massive as well and often grow new trees from layering their branches.

[@olesyadrach7969]

🧚‍♂️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦❤🧚‍♀️😊🌍

[@terrywade3696]

How old is that oak tree? Living in California, our Sequoia redwood trees are several thousand years old and extremely tall. The General Sherman redwood circumference is so large that it takes 36 grown men, with outstretched arms and holding hands to reach around it!

[@WillWalking]

Majesty is unpollarded, and thus unlikely to live as long as a 'managed' oak. She's only about 800-1000 years old, they say...

[@wolfgangweber2516]

beautifull building. can easily be used as a place of our gods and goddesses. and the divine tree is absolutely great, admirable

[@c.gilliland8338]

what is that glorious piece of music?

[@user-ho2pf5mj5g]

🦉

[@RosemariRoast]

💕

[@antonycanova52]

If I may ask, what was the significance of the red ochre and well water? I googled red ochre, so I know it's been used in burial rituals since Neanderthal times. Are you performing last rites on a dying tree? And what about the well water? Rebirth? Baptism?

[@WillWalking]

As well as burial paint, red ochre has also been used as battle-paint, and wedding body-paint, and any number of other ceremonial ways by people throughout the world. It is also used in mudane ways, for insect repellent and sunblock, apparently. I like to imagine that by coating the bodies of heroes before burial, this was not a 'last rites' farewell, but a way to honour and keep alive the the person being buried in the tribal consciousness, even after death. Coating people in helps to assimilate the life of the fallen into the ongoing life of the tribe. Perhaps there is a sense that this mark of respect connects the bearer to those others who wear the red? As such, I use red ochre as a marking of honour and respect, to denote a special place/person/event. I give it in a variety of ways, but always with the intention to honour the place/person to whom it is given. As for holy water, this is a standard gift for me too. Somewhere special gets a spalsh of the pure good stuff. Water is life. I also like the sense that with water it is easy to make connections between plces - a trail as it were, a circuit between places to which it is given. In short, this is my catch-all gift. My understanding of pilgrimage is that the culture of gifts has been somewhat forgotten, perhaps because it became associated with the undesirable elements of Medieval culture - the Pardoner etc., selling indulgences for gold. But the older mechanism of offering reciprocity remains true as ever. If you seek a blessing it seems a simple truth that you should also give a gift in payment. Holy palces are not one-way taps, pouring out goodness. They require connection, relationship and reciprocity. Medieval pilgrims used to give beeswax candles the shape and size of their wounded body part, to create an exact balance. Druidic water sources in Britain are often found with silver items of great value in them. This folk memory remains in the form of 'wishing wells'. It seems sensible to carry and offer gifts to special places. For me, a basic and transportable option is the red-ochre water. Also, song. But water, by connecting the holy place with previous sites met, interconnects my pilgrimages and makes of them a larger coherence of greater journey. Or so it seems to me. And self-persuasion is a large part of effective belief & ritual, probably. Thanks for asking! Walk well!

[@antonycanova52]

@@WillWalking Thank you so much for responding. Good to see these things have so much meaning for you.

[@user-je2ny1mq1o]

💖

[@verapipoca]

❤❤❤❤❤ 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

[@vancegilmore245]

I wonder if Queen Elizabeth ll ever visited that Oak tree.

[@matthorner35]

Hi Will, how do you het to that beautiful woodland at 1:06? Really want to photograph there!

[@starcrib]

No one has said how old this ancient tree is ? 🟩🟩🟩🌿✨️✨️✨️✨️

[@tommym936]

I feel i should know it , but what is the title of the song? Thanks

[@applelover7801]

👍🏼

[@mikegregory2048]

England

[@petersack5074]

So, how old /long has this living tree.....been alive ? 1,000 years ?......

[@sharonholdren7588]

True Ents

[@MargaretUK]

I love this comment ❤

[@HEIN103]

Fantastic , Can i share to my group ? The Bald Explorer

[@WillWalking]

Please, by all means!

[@kimwilson3863]

Better see them soon as they seem to be disappearing fast these ancient trees along with churches and cemeteries. 100 ancient beech trees felled overnight in Devon. This appears to be a trend. See our heritage and culture before it's gone. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@Xerrand]

Please tell me this tree is still there? I remember hearing about some famous English tree that was cut down in the last year, was it this one?

[@DenEm-rm4vi]

No that wasn't this one, it was a tree on hadrians wall.

[@wedruskimistrz5122]

Lent Your Majestic Imaging Video adding Your Source Link and Channel :-)

[@ananda_krishnan_r]

Is it possible to grow English Oak at a temperature of 20 - 30 degree Celsius

[@WillWalking]

That is a great question!

[@user-zp7jp1vk2i]

@@WillWalking Oak and walnut have a tap root: of more importance is the ground; on the wet west coast we don't see oaks or walnut: the mucky soil hits hardpan fast. I planted walnuts that were grafted on to ash roots, and they took. I visit my trees planted in 1978 when I can.

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

yes but they need enough water

[@geoff2212]

What is the music on this called?

[@jerryrogers757]

wonder how old the tree is....

[@WillWalking]

around 800 years...

[@sbsbs2110]

he have 156 years old .

[@debrapaulino918]

Is the age of it known?

[@badeugenecops4741]

Ask Google, not random people.

[@no-knickers-emma1112]

Is that a Turkey oak ?

[@WillWalking]

pendunculate, i believe...

[@user-jw5ji3ep2k]

How old is it?

[@WillWalking]

800 odd years?

[@MrBsir390]

Trees provide Humans with Oxygen for Life.Then Humans made Weapons and wooden Ships to kill other Humans.

[@joeysausage3437]

What I'd it with people like you? Always find a negative.

[@SkyeSage17]

Old world Florida claim they have the oldest oak tree

[@WillWalking]

they proabbaly do. This is the oldest unpollarded oak in England only...

[@uknowwho7408]

Can't believe that they didn't mention the age of the tree...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[@WillWalking]

no-one really knows. but probabaly around 800 years. There are older Oaks, but this is a virgin - unpollarded.

[@garywait3231]

Hideous 'background' noise ( music ?? )

[@user-wc6bq8pe3s]

Yeah it would have been nice if you would have told us how God damn old it is

[@WillWalking]

around 800 years. At best guess. There are older oaks in England, but none unpollarded. This is an oak that has grown without people cutting her crown away. It's a rare thing to see.

[@jmack8767]

If modern builders and architects had the wit to emboss faces and carvings of dogs and owls and flowers on their awful concrete blocks, no-one would be complaining about the ugliness of their architecture. And it would be SO SIMPLE to do. Symbolism has been an integral part of building for thousands of years. Only very recently has it been abandoned in the name of ... what ... "authenticity"? "Natural shapes"?

[@octogirl2046]

It needs a good pruning:) but WOW