112 THE OAK TREE IN ESSEX.
Fig. 27.—Oak near Dairy Farm, Mistley Park.
1051/2 feet in diameter, with a trunk 17 feet in circumference three
feet from the ground. There are also several venerable pollards,
some with boles measuring as much as 22 and 23 feet in cir-
cumference.
Prittlewell Oak.—Mr. H. W. King, in his annotated edition
of Morant's "Essex," writes :—
Fig. 28.—Oak at Fingringhoe.
" Oak tree standing on Colman's Farm, Prittlewell, the bound-
ary between that parish and Eastwood, girt, middle of trunk
20 feet 6 inches, near the base 24 feet. Sketched 24th May, 1869.
This tree still lives."
Dedham and Lawford Oaks.—At Fingringhoe (fig. 28) is an oak
with trunk having a girth of 17 feet at narrowest circumference. The
tree is remarkable, not only for its picturesque surroundings, but also
from the fact that the earth has been worn away from its roots,
leaving them exposed, thus affording the village children the facilities
they love for breaking their knees in climbing over something. In a