The Gartree (or Gore Tree) was an oak
tree situated to the north of the Roman Gartree Road and west of the ancient
ridgeway running north to south, between Shangton and Illston-on-the-Hill. The
oak was arguably the most important landmark in the ancient local landscape.
Ancient oaks were always held in high regard to the pagan elders of this
country. Druids would worship the oak tree and hold their ceremonies in amongst
their clutches. The Gartree oak is thought to be one of these sacred trees as we
know that it was a meeting place for the elders of the Gartree Hundred area,
way before the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Leicestershire. This sacred meeting
place even pre-dates the Roman invasion and hence the Roman road that was named
after it.
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| Gartree Road (image source: www.leicesterchronicler.com) |
Local landowners would gather around
the Gartree oak to record their goods and make trading deals. We know from
records that between at least 1458 and 1750 the hundred courts met at the oak until
they decided to move them to the Bull's Head in Tur Langton, the nearest
convenient inn to the ancient meeting place. This primitive, open-air
court was chosen so that the sheriff could make fair judgement without the
influence of spirits who haunted buildings.
If you saw the relatively recent Story
of England TV documentary by Michael Wood, you would have seen the site of the
tree and even a remnant of it. Sadly, the ancient oak fell in the 1960s. The
area of land is now private and inaccessible without the landowner’s permission. But to mark its importance in the local landscape, a replacement tree has since been
planted and can be viewed from the road. Hopefully there will also be an information board and signpost erected soon.
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| The replacement Gartree (image source: www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk) |
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