Allerton Oak, Calderstones Park

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Today I went to Liverpool to look after my sister’s cat, Cleo, for four nights.

Earlier this year I came across the Allerton Oak, a very, very old tree in Calderstones Park. Also known as the thousand-year-old oak. I decided to visit it during this trip.

It’s reputed to be a thousand years old, though it’s now thought to be just 500-550 years old. This still means the tree has witnessed a lot of history, starting with the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

During the Second World War local soldiers were sent acorns and leaves from the tree as good luck tokens from friends and family; as a result, seedlings from the tree are thought to have grown across the world.

It won the national tree of the year award back in 2019.

It has an eighteen-foot girth and is thought to be in good health, producing some 100,000 acorns a year.

There is a fence around the tree to protect it.

Metal crutches were installed in 1907 to hold up its branches. These have recently been renewed at a cost of £80,000.

In 2007, an acorn from the tree was planted as its successor, it has become known as Allerton Oak the Younger.

The park has a manor house, which is home to Britain’s largest shared reading charity.

The park is home to the Calder Stones, a group of six, 5,000 year old stone megaliths.

From 1964 to 1984 the park contained the famous Harthill Greenhouses, which contained a nationally important orchid collection as well as plants for the Liverpool parks. The council demolished them in 1984; the orchid collection was dispersed around the country. Eventually, the council tried to sell the land for housing, which was successfully stopped. Volunteers are now trying to convert the area into a nature reserve, they have a website here

When I was there, I did not have much time to look around the park. I’ll be returning there in the future, hopefully on my next trip.

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