The Oaks of Sevenoaks
1987 年 10 月のあの夜の「ハリケーン」ほど、セブンオークスを有名にしたものはありません。この時、歴史あるヴァイン クリケット グラウンドの端にあった 6 つの「コロネーション オークス」が時速 100 マイルを超える風によって平らにされました。今日はこの町の名前の歴史を紐解いてみましょう。(English) Nothing made Sevenoaks more famous than the 'hurricane' that night in October 1987. On that occasion, six 'Coronation Oaks' on the edge of the historic Vine Cricket Ground were flattened by winds over 100 mph. Today, we'll unravel the history of the town's namesake.
The Oaks of Sevenoaks
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1)
These oaks are not the oaks for which the town is named.
They were planted in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII.
But an early 20th-century postcard mentions seven oak trees.
These were planted in 1955 to replace an earlier 18th-century group.
3)
No one knows where the original oaks were or whether they existed.
Textus Roffensis records the existence of a church and place named Seouenaca by the Saxons in 1112.
4)
The original site may have been near the small Saxon chapel and later St Nicholas' Church, a settlement that grew up around 900 AD.
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5)
Our town is enveloped and ennobled by its trees. Several are older than some of our ancient buildings.
The most significant is our oak trees.
Six mighty oaks were uprooted at Vine in October 1987.
It played a significant role in making Seven Oaks famous.
6)
A Night to Remember
"I have seen Tempests when the scolding winds Have rived the knotty oaks." (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)
The six felled trees on that night of "the Great Storm" were the famous majestic oaks on the Vine, planted in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII.
7)
It could not resist the might of the storm that swept through the south of England, laying low 15 million trees in all.
So, where was the first group of seven oaks?
No one knows for sure, and records of the early days of Sevenoaks are sparse.
But it is accepted wisdom that our town was named after a clump of distinctive oaks.
8)
Some speculate they may have been here as early as 800 AD, growing in the ancient woodlands.
The Textus Roffensis provides sure evidence that a church and place with the Saxon name of Seouenaca existed in 1112.
9)
Three centuries earlier, a traveler had used the first north-south track through the large forest of the Andredeswald.
He sought out churches and hospitals for protection from wild beasts.
He may then have sought shelter under a prominent roadside oak grove.
10)
So the original site may well have been close to the subsequent church of St Nicholas.
And it was around here that the first settlement arose, possibly around 900 AD, when the trees were already well established.
11)
Hasted writes in 1797 that the name Seouenaca was given to it from seven large oaks standing on the hill where the town was first built.
Dunlop concludes that the seven oak trees were within, or just outside, the area bounded today by Park Grange, St Nicholas Church, and Sevenoaks School.
The Oaks of Sevenoaks
https://www.sevenoakssociety.co.uk/townscape/trees-and-landscape/our-trees
https://www.sevenoakssociety.co.uk/images/pdfs/The-Oaks-of-Sevenoaks.pdf