Chained Oak

The Chained Oak is an oak tree, tied in chains, near to the village of Alton, Staffordshire, England. The tree, referred to as "The Old Oak", is the subject of a local legend involving the Earl of Shrewsbury and an old beggar woman.

The legend goes that on an autumn night Earl of Shrewsbury was returning to his home at Alton Towers when an old woman suddenly appeared in the road. The coach stopped to find why she was there, and then the old woman begged for a coin. The Earl cruelly dismissed her, so the old woman placed a curse on him. The old woman said, "For every branch on the Old Oak Tree here that falls, a member of the Earl’s family will die." The Earl dismissed this and carried on his way.

The same night a violent storm caused a single branch from the old oak tree to break and fall. Later that same night, a member of the Earl’s family suddenly and mysteriously died.

Now firmly believing the power of the curse, Earl ordered his servants to chain every branch together to prevent other branches from falling. To this day, the Oak tree remains chained up.

There are slight variations in the story, however the core remains the same.

On 9 April 2007, one of the tree's main branches fell off. The Talbot family confirmed that no one died when the branch fell.

Since then, a considerable proportion of the chained oak has collapsed. It is thought that one of the chains, having become integral to the tree's structure, rusted through resulting in the collapse of part of the lower side of the tree.

Various dates are attributed to the legend of the chained oak, affecting the identity of "The Earl". The Talbot Family, Earls of Shrewsbury, began building nearby Alton Towers in 1801, on the site of the former "Alveton Lodge". The new house they created was known at that time known as "Alton Abbey" (despite no religious affiliations or history). The 15th Earl (died 1827) made the house their permanent home in 1814. His nephew and successor, the 16th Earl (died 1852) moved to the house in 1831, after the family's principal residence, Heythrop Park, burned down. It was during the 16th Earl's residency the house became known as "Alton Towers".

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