Pagan Eye: Trained Oak at Plotlands, Essex

This picture of a strangely bent oak tree was sent to me by Lee Edwards and was taken on a walk with a friend in an Essex nature reserve. She said: “Found this unusual. It appears to be a trained oak on a nature reserve made out of the old Plotlands. The whole place has some interesting areas and they are working on heritage orchards and gardens.”

I had no idea what Plotlands were, so I asked her.

She explained that Plotlands was once small plots of land sold in the early 20th century to people who built weekend cottages or ran smallholdings. Many of owners were East End Londoners who wanted an escape from the grime of the city. During the Second World War, many of these people were bombed out of their London homes and had to move to their plots permanently.

Although much of this area has now been rebuilt and is part of the town of Basildon, a small area has been retained as a nature reserve and museum showing how people used to live.

Presumably one of the plot owners trained this oak with the intention of later making something out of the wood. I wonder what.

On each Pagan Eye post, I show a photo that I find interesting, with a few words about it. I’m not quite sure what I’ll be including – it could be a seasonal image, a pagan site, an event, or just a pretty picture.

If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to [email protected] Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself and you must confirm that you are submitting it for A Bad Witch’s Blog.

The photo is copyright Lee Edwards.

Links and previous related posts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunton_Plotlands
http://www.essexwt.org.uk/haven-plotlands-museum
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/08/pagan-eye-druid-oak.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/11/pagan-eye-autumn-plane-tree.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/11/pagan-eye-autumn-afternoon-in-new-forest.html

To read more posts like this visit A Bad Witch’s Blog at www.badwitch.co.uk