The Birnam Oak
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Birnam Oak by Ralph Greig as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Birnam Oak
Image: © Ralph Greig Taken: 1 Jul 2023
Sometimes known as Macbeth's oak, as it is a relic of Birnam Wood, mentioned in William Shakespeare's play, the tree is found in a strip of woodland on the south bank of the River Tay. The trunk is 5.5 metres (18 ft) wide and its large spreading branches have latterly been supported on a number of struts to prevent them from collapsing under their own weight. The exact age is unknown, but the girth suggests an age of around 600 years old which would mean it was already a mature tree at the time of Shakespeare's presumed visit to Perthshire in 1589. The tree is listed by Forestry and Land Scotland as one of Scotland's most famous oak trees.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
56.561133
Longitude
-3.57564