Royal Oak
English oak tree which was in Boscobel Wood
The Royal Oak was the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. Charles told Samuel Pepys in 1680 that while he was hiding in the tree, a Parliamentarian soldier passed directly below it. The story was popular after the Restoration, and is remembered every year in the English traditions of Royal Oak Day.
History
After the defeat of Charles' Royalist army at the hands of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army in the Battle of Worcester, the King fled with Lord Derby, Lord Wilmot and other royalists, seeking shelter at the safe houses of White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House.
Initially, Charles was led to White Ladies Priory by Charles Giffard, a cousin of the owner, and his servant Francis Yates, the only man later executed for his part in the escape. There, the Penderel (Pendrell or Pendrill) family, tenants and servants of the Giffard family began to be important in guiding and caring for him. The King was disguised as a woodman by Charles Giffard and the Penderel family. From White Ladies, Richard Penderel led Charles in an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Severn near Madeley, Shropshire. They were forced to retrace their steps and Charles took refuge at Boscobel.
The public source identifies “Royal Oak” as english oak tree which was in Boscobel Wood. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Royal, English and tree.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1124292. Authority coordinates are 52.670, -2.242. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1651 and 1680.
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This entry incorporates text from “Royal Oak” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.