The Fairlop Oak — the giant tree that became a death cult

London · United Kingdom · Natural site

When a branch fell from the giant oak, Daniel Day had it sawn into his own coffin — and feasted beneath the tree every July until he was laid in it.

On Fairlop Plain in Hainault Forest stood an oak said to be over 1,800 years old, its branches shading ground wide enough for thousands — and one man tied his whole life and his death to it. In 1725 the engine-maker Daniel Day of Wapping began treating his workers to beans and bacon beneath the tree on the first Friday in July. The tradition swelled into Fairlop Fair, drawing as many as 200,000 visitors. Day became obsessed with his oak: when a branch fell he had it sawn into his own coffin, which he kept while waiting for death and was in the end buried in. The tree was damaged by fire in 1805 and blew down in 1820, and the forest around it was felled. The fair survived until 1900 before dying out. What remains on the plain is a marked spot and the absence of a giant.

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Where is The Fairlop Oak — the giant tree that became a death cult located?

The Fairlop Oak — the giant tree that became a death cult is in London, United Kingdom.

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