Pub Chain Is Sorry for Felling 500-Year-Old Oak

A pub chain in the UK has apologized for chopping down an oak tree in north London believed to have been more than twice as old as the USA. The 500-year-old oak was on land Toby Carvery had leased from Enfield Council to use as a parking lot for its branch in Whitewebbs Park, CNN reports. The chain's parent company, Mitchell & Butler, said it was cut down after contractors advised that it was dead and "caused a potential health and safety risk," but the council said it was inspected in December and deemed "healthy," with no risk to users of the parking lot. A March 2024 planning document called it a "fine specimen," the BBC reports.

With a girth of around 20 feet, the tree was one of the biggest oaks in London, and experts believe it could have lived for many more years. The Telegraph reports that it was known as the "Guy Fawkes oak" after the man who hatched the plot to blow up Parliament in a nearby house in 1605, when the tree was around 80 years old. "I am outraged that the leaseholder has cut down this beautiful ancient oak tree without seeking any permissions or advice from Enfield Council," council leader Ergin Erbil said Wednesday. "We have evidence that this tree was alive and starting to grow new spring leaves when this action was taken." He said the council is considering legal action.

The Woodland Trust conservation charity said the tree was an important habitat for wildlife, the Guardian reports. "This is the most shocking fell I think I've ever seen in more than a decade working with ancient trees," said Ed Pyne, the trust's senior tree adviser. He described the oak as "ecologically much more significant" than the famous Sycamore Gap tree that was felled in 2023, "and certainly a more irreplaceable tree." Phil Urban, the chain's CEO, apologized for the "anger and upset" that had been caused saying the people involved "acted in good faith and with good intentions" but protocols need to be tightened. "Clearly the felling of a beautiful old tree is a very emotive subject and is not something that any of us would undertake lightly," he said. (More trees stories.)