{{Short description|Old tree near Jedburgh, Scotland}} {{Infobox tree | name= Capon Oak Tree | image= Capon Oak Tree.jpg | image_size= | alt= | image_caption= The Capon Tree in 2009 | map= | map_alt= | map_size= | map_caption= | relief= | label_position= | map_image= | species= [[Quercus petraea|Sessile Oak]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-23 |title=The Woodland Trust {{!}} Recording {{!}} Tree details |url=http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=9a412562-fc3b-48d2-95f1-bcf46dca1b42 |access-date=2024-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723234815/http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=9a412562-fc3b-48d2-95f1-bcf46dca1b42 |archive-date=2011-07-23 }}</ref> | binomial= ''[[Quercus petraea]]'' | location= [[Jedforest]], [[Scottish Borders]] | height= | girth= ~10 metres | diameter= | volume= | coordinates= | seeded=<!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} if after XXXX --> | felled=<!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} --> | custodian= | website=<!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> }}
The '''Capon Oak Tree''' is one of the last surviving trees of the ancient Scottish [[Jedforest]]. It is close to the [[A68 road|A68]] and [[Jed Water]], a small river which has cut a course below soft [[sandstone]] cliffs. The [[Quercus petraea|Sessile Oak]] tree was said to be in the top fifty trees in the UK in 2002 and in the top 10 in 2024.
==Description== [[File:Capon Oak Tree Callant and retinue (sq cropped).jpg|thumb|left|The Jedburgh Callant receiving his sprig in 2023]] It is located {{convert|2|mi}} south of [[Jedburgh]], Scotland, west of the [[A68 road|A68]]. The Capon Tree is held together with [[concrete]], [[brick]]s and timber beams supporting its [[trunk (botany)|trunk]] and [[branches]] due to a massive split down the middle of the trunk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Capon Tree |url=https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tree-search/tree?treeid=5320 |website=Ancient Tree Inventory |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref> The tree's trunk is about ten metres in diameter<ref>{{Cite web |title=Veteran trees |url=http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/heritagemanagement/woodpasture/Veterantrees.asp}}</ref> and it continued to grow in 2022.<ref name=srep/> The tree is estimated to be about 1,000 years old and it may have survived being felled because of its distorted shape making its wood useless for making ships. In 2002 grants were given to enable work to extend its life. It is an important icon and for 75 years the tree is visited annually during the annual [[Jethart Callant's Festival]] where the Callant is decorated with a sprig from the Capon tree.<ref name=srep>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Paul |date=2002 |title=A 1,000-year-old Jedburgh tree is tougher than the rest |url=https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/a-1000-year-old-jedburgh-tree-is-tougher-than-the-rest-3543636 |access-date=20 January 2024 |work=Southern Reporter}}</ref> The Capon Tree was one of the 50 [[List of Great British Trees|Great British Trees]] selected by [[The Tree Council]] in 2002 the year of [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II|the Queen's Golden Jubilee]]<ref name="TTC-2002">{{cite web |url=http://www.treecouncil.org.uk/tws/GBTPress%20Release.htm |title=Fifty Great Trees for Fifty Great Years |date=|publisher=[[The Tree Council]] |accessdate=1 May 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030106150322/http://www.treecouncil.org.uk/tws/GBTPress%20Release.htm |archivedate=6 January 2003 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in 2024 it was in the short list for "Tree of the Year".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trust |first=Woodland |title=Tree of the Year |url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/tree-of-the-year/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Woodland Trust |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Trees are being replanted in the Borders to establish a renewal of the ancient 'Caledon Wood,' or great northern forest, which included [[Ettrick Forest]] and [[Jedforest]].<ref>{{Citation | author1=Crumley, Jim | title=The Great Wood : the Ancient Forest of Caledon | publication-date=2011 | publisher=Birlinn | isbn=978-0-85790-090-6}}</ref>
==See also== * [[List of Great British Trees]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Capon Tree}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723234815/http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=9a412562-fc3b-48d2-95f1-bcf46dca1b42 Recorded information about the Capon Oak on the Ancient Tree Hunt] *[http://www.jedburgh.org.uk/attraction-the-capon-tree Jedburgh.org] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150221031203/http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/heritagemanagement/woodpasture/Veterantrees.asp SNH]
[[Category:Individual oak trees]] [[Category:Individual trees in Scotland]] [[Category:Jedburgh]]
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