Legend
The Court Oak
Justice was done beneath its boughs.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- A vast propped oak behind railings
- Legend from
- Calderstones tradition
- Best time
- Spring–autumn
- Tone
- Stately
Judges are said to have sat beneath these branches long before Allerton had a courthouse.
The Allerton Oak in Calderstones Park is thought to be about 1,000 years old, and is called the oldest oak in North West England. A sign at its foot says Allerton had no courthouse, so the medieval Hundred Court is believed to have met under its branches. The BBC reports that local historian Mike Royden thinks the court may have met at the nearby Calderstones instead. A second story says the great crack in its trunk was caused in 1864, when the ship Lottie Sleigh, carrying gunpowder, exploded on the Mersey about three miles away. In the Second World War, families sent acorns and leaves from the tree to soldiers for protection.