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National Photographic Record and Survey

Photograph
1908 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This once legendary oak was documented in 1804 as being some 14 metres in girth – the largest ever recorded in Britain. Despite the records at that time noting it was decaying fast, it survived until around 1950. This photograph was made for the holdings of the National Photographic Record and Survey, an organization founded by Stone in 1897. Its aim was to form a visual ‘memory bank’ of England’s ancient buildings, customs and other ‘survivals’ of historical interest.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • National Photographic Record and Survey (series title)
  • The Cowthorpe Oak near Knaresborough. Said to be the Largest Oak in England. Estimated age 1600 years. (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Platinum print mounted on card with handwritten ink notation
Brief description
Photograph by Sir Benjamin Stone, 'The Cowthorpe Oak near Knaresborough. Said to be the Largest Oak in England. Estimated age 1600 years.', 1908, platinum print
Physical description
Black and white photograph mounted on card depicting a large oak tree whose branches are held up by numerous timber props
Dimensions
  • Height: 155mm
  • Width: 203mm
Credit line
Transferred from the British Museum
Summary
This once legendary oak was documented in 1804 as being some 14 metres in girth – the largest ever recorded in Britain. Despite the records at that time noting it was decaying fast, it survived until around 1950. This photograph was made for the holdings of the National Photographic Record and Survey, an organization founded by Stone in 1897. Its aim was to form a visual ‘memory bank’ of England’s ancient buildings, customs and other ‘survivals’ of historical interest.
Other number
1910 5 28 174 - British Museum number
Collection
Accession number
E.1135-2001

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Record createdMarch 30, 2001
Record URL
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