Page 9 - Frittenden Parish Mag - April 2024

Historical Society Historical Society

Frittenden visit bigger tree. This explained the very unusual degree that it should satisfy all the conservation concerns relating
to the historical buildings in which it might be housed.
of preservation; when it fell, this vast tree would
to the bog oak have smashed and crushed everything in its way The understructure is made from patinated bronze,
before burying itself deep into the peat—where
(archaeologists refer to the period when the Oak was growing
it lay, undisturbed, for the next 5000 years.
jubilee table With the aid of an excavator, two telescopic forklifts as transitional between the Stone and Bronze ages), which
facilitates the folding down of the two outer boards halving
the table’s width. Specially designed wheels concealed within
and the longest sawmill in the country, some of
Phil Betts the rarest planks in the world were milled from the pedestals allow the table to be effortlessly and silently
moved to the side of a space by just two people where it
the Jubilee Oak. This posed several challenges. It
Chmn Frittenden Historical Society was not possible to find a mobile sawmill in this can then be used as a serving table during other activities,
country capable of milling such a huge tree, so a very much in the tradition of early English refectory tables.
Even in its folded form, the joints of the 5 boards making
This huge table is made from a 5,000-year-old oak generous Canadian company loaned one, via their up the top are spectacular when displayed in this way.
tree excavated whole from the Fens (hence bog UK agent. It proved easier to build the sawmill
oak) in 2012, the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on site in the field rather than move the tree The planks were retained at full length and many new
Year. The table is 13.2 metres (43ft) long, made itself. This was one of the many innovations and techniques were developed to work on their unprecedented
from planks of single lengths of the tree, and was inventions necessary to achieve the final product. size. The ‘River Joint’, for example, was created to not only
completed in 2022, the late Queen’s Platinum This extraordinary tree yielded ten magnificent and reflect an important Fenland feature, but by using the Jubilee Table with one of the sides lowered
Jubilee. It is now known beautiful, consecutive planks shape and character of each individual plank, the scale of
as the ‘Jubilee Oak’ unlike anything ever seen before. this tree can be fully appreciated at a glance. The unique tree represented a unique
visual details of the top are inspired entirely by the tree itself.
Tim Edmunds, a former This was the most difficult and extraordinary creative
Frittenden resident, has been challenge: Black Oak needs to It is very unusual for such a large team of independent craftspeople opportunity, which was
involved since the beginning be dried artificially and very and designers to work together on a single object in this way. This very compelling to people
of the project to excavate the slowly. Over a period of nine who work with their hands.
tree and build the table. On months, 1795 litres (nearly 400 Everyone gave their time,
Saturday 2 March he, and gallons) of water were extracted knowledge and services free.
Hamish Low, the leader of the from the planks in a purpose-
Fenland Black Oak Project, built dehumidifying kiln. The The table was offered for display
met a group from Frittenden, planks shrank to almost half to Ely Cathedral, in whose
organised by the Historical their thickness, a quarter of their Come And Join Us For The diocese it was found, and the
Society, at Rochester width and even 15 centimetres in Jubilee Table was unveiled
Cathedral where the table length. The drying process also Annual General by HRH The Princess Royal
is currently on display, to reduced the weight of the planks in May 2022. Buckingham
give us the inside story of by a staggering 1.8 metric tonnes! Meeting Palace officially endorsed an
the creation of the table. In recognition of the significance You are invited to join us for the Annual General Meeting of Frittenden engraving at one end of the
table in commemoration of
During routine The group from Frittenden at Rochester of this discovery and the rarity Historical Society at 8pm on Tuesday 30th April 2024. the tree’s unearthing during
cultivations in the spring of the planks it yielded, a The Committee welcomes any new volunteers or suggestions for talks or Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond
of 2012 on a farm in charitable trust was established speakers for the forthcoming season. Jubilee year and on the other
the Wissington Fens of south-west Norfolk, to ensure its preservation and Followed by a vitual walk through the landscape and industries of the High end an engraving in recognition
Weald from David Clarke.
a 13.2 metre section of a 5,000-year-old appropriate use; the Fenland Black Oak CIO. of the table’s completion
subfossilised Black Oak tree was unearthed. The Trustees assembled a team of craftspeople, and dedication in the year
experts in prehistoric wood, engineers, 30 APRIL 2024 AT 8PM
This was unique not just in its size but the degree academics, scientists and designers to create a of the Platinum Jubilee.
of preservation; there was no evidence of insect work of art worthy of the tree and the nation. FRITTENDEN MEMORIAL HALL The spectacular and unique
infestation or fungal disease, and large areas of Jubilee Table is on display
bark were still intact. It was not obvious which end The design team had to come up with innovative www.frittendenhistoricalsociety.co.uk at Rochester Cathedral
was the canopy and which end the root ball. This and creative solutions to meet the various challenges until 21 April when it will
branchless trunk was so straight it was realised that of the design brief—not least that the table should move to Lincoln Cathedral
it must be only a small section of a much, much be able to fold-down to mitigate its huge size, and for the next 12 months.

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