Public voting is open now for The Woodland Trust’s annual competition

The Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year 2020 shortlist includes a very special oak from Dorset.Whittled down from hundreds of nominations sent in by the general public during lockdown, a shortlist of ten trees is now up for the public vote. The Remedy Oak, near Horton, is one of the ten finalists.

From a distance it’s difficult to appreciate the grandeur of the Remedy Oak, as it is covered in ivy and moss that helps it blend into the surrounding hedges on the roadside. The entirely hollow tree gets its name from a legend that King Edward VI, in the mid 1550s, had touched the tree, and in doing so, conveyed healing powers upon it.As he died at just 15, that magical healing power may not be that potent!

Go online to cast your vote for this special Dorset oak to be crowned England’s Tree of the Year for 2020, by noon on 24 September.