Major Oak

The Major Oak is a huge oak tree near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood’s shelter where he and his merry men slept.The Major Oak’s first recorded name was the Cockpen tree, a reference to its use as a cockerel pen to hold the birds before a cockfight. However, the tree became better known as “The Major’s Oak” after it was described in 1790 by a local historian, Major Hayman Rooke. Throughout the 19th century it was also known as the Queen or Queen’s Oak.In the Spring, many birds including jackdaws, woodpeckers and great tits make their nest in what is Sherwood’s most famous Oak.