Midland Oak
Encyclopedia
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
tree that grew near the boundary between Lillington
Lillington, Warwickshire
Lillington is an area of the town of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England. Lillington was formerly a village which existed before the time of the Domesday Book , until it was subsumed into Leamington Spa, the parish being incorporated into that borough in 1890.-Geography:Lillington itself has...
and Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, at the junction of Lillington Road and Lillington Avenue.
A new tree planted near the site of the old one has a plaque which states that the old tree was reputed to mark the centre of England
Centre points of the United Kingdom
There has long been debate over the exact location of the geographical centre of the United Kingdom, and its constituent countries, due to the complexity and method of the calculation, such as whether to include offshore islands, and the fact that erosion will cause the position to change over time...
. The present tree was planted about 1988, grown from an acorn found nearby. The previous oak tree on the site, planted in the mid 20th century and again grown from a locally found acorn, had itself replaced a much older tree, the original centuries old Midland Oak.
The tree survived the extensive work carried out in 2002, when an underground stream, the Bins Brook, was exposed and an overflow basin was created, to prevent the flooding of nearby houses.
Leamington's first golf course existed nearby from 1890, founded by the Rev Percy Coates.