Celebrating
Royal Oak
Apple Day
King Charles II Royal Oak Day
Today’s Modern Life
In the haste and speed of modern life, celebrating old fashioned English public holidays has slipped to the edges of our consciousness.
King Charles II & The Oak Tree
What is Royal Oak Apple Day?
Most schoolchildren learn that after the battle of Worcester on the 3rd of September 1651, Charles II hid in an oak tree before his eventual escape to France.
Upon his restoration to the throne in 1660, after the death of Oliver Cromwell, he declared the 29th of May to be a public holiday. This day is more often known as Restoration Day or more commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day in an apparent reference to his successful hiding in an oak tree at Boscobel House.
How did Royal Oak Apple Day come about ?
Derring-do adventures of King Charles II
The adventures of King Charles II are full of derring-do, but our little seaside village of Charmouth played its part in the story.
With a £1,000.00 bounty on his head worth approximately £250,000.00 today, Charles and various bands of loyal friends galloped around the Midlands, avoiding pursuing Parliamentarian troops before finally escaping from Shoreham on the south coast.
Charmouth & The King
During the adventures...
On this jaunt around England, King Charles II arrived in Charmouth whilst his courtiers attempted to find a ship from Lyme Regis or Weymouth.
Captain Elesdon was a loyal soldier whose family were successful Lyme merchants from the 15th century and it was to him that the courtiers turned.
One of Captain Elesdon’s tenants, Stephen Limbry, was sailing for St. Malo and it was decided Charles and Lord Wilmot could board as merchants.
22nd of September – Eloping
Charles rode to Charmouth with Juliana Coningsby, pretending to be an eloping couple.
Charles waited at the Queen’s Arms Inn for Wilmot to negotiate with Captain Limbry, but the latter failed to arrive.
It is said that Limbry’s wife heard of the plan and locked him in his bedroom for his safety. Probably a huge domestic row ensued!
King Charles II’s cover was almost blown !
Charles and Julia rode on to Bridport, which was full of Parliamentarian troops.
Charles boldly walked to an inn, now the cancer charity shop, and arranged for rooms.
The King’s cover was almost blown due to an ostler that was convinced he recognised him from “somewhere”.
This very old building has the inscription above the door “King Charles II came here September 23rd 1651”.
In the meantime…
Lord Wilmot remained in Charmouth as his horse had lost a shoe.
The blacksmith (no fool) realised that the horse’s shoes had been forged in Worcestershire. He then informed the authorities, but by then, Lord Wilmot had ridden to Bridport but to the wrong inn.
His servant found Charles and eventually, they joined up outside the town. King Charles II and his party decided to return inland to the village of Trent whilst the troops galloped on towards Dorchester.
Losing their way, they spent the night at a cottage in Broadwindsor only to find to their horror, another troop of Roundheads arriving for the night.
Fortunately, one of the ladies travelling with the soldiers went into labour which diverted their attention and Charles escaped the following morning.
Shoreham & Safety on The Surprise
Eventually, after another 12 days or so, Charles and Wilmot boarded the Surprise at Shoreham and sailed for France.
Two hours after their departure, another troop of cavalry arrived to search for “a tall, black-haired man, six feet two inches in height”.
A footnote to this story is that as you drive towards Charmouth, below the steep turning down to Monkton Wyld hamlet, nestles an old farmhouse called Elesdons Farm.
Celebrating Oak Apple Day
There are still a few villages which continue to celebrate Oak Apple Day and we are fortunate that the local village of Membury keeps alive the tradition. On the 29th May there will be a parade along the one street of the village commencing at 4.00 pm.
King Charles II will walk along the street to the Church where, watched by a baleful Oliver Cromwell, he will proclaim the Restoration of the Monarchy and declared a Public Holiday.
The devastation caused by Covid has naturally restricted the participants and event but, you could watch from the Churchyard and then continue to one of three excellent local Inns – The Tuckers Arms at Dalwood, the Kings Arms at Stockland or The Cotley at Wambrook. The choice is yours!
“Wrap Up”
Wearing a sprig of oak proclaims your loyalty to the crown
The date of the 29th of May is the day Charles rode into London upon the restoration. The 29th of May remained a public holiday until 1859.
It is rather fitting that the future King hid in an oak tree, the oldest of all our native trees since the retreat of the ice age.
On the 2nd of Jun 1947, Princess Elizabeth went to the Royal Hospital Chelsea on Oak Apple Day
Finding the answer to why Restoration Day became Oak Apple Day has been difficult
The tiny “bumps” or galls on the underside of oak leaves and twigs are caused by various wasps laying their eggs.
The tree then sends out a substance which protects the eggs and forms the “gall” These galls vary in size, but a diameter of 3-4 mm is the norm and these are the “Oak Apples”
There are apparently over 70 different types of wasps and I think I will leave this subject right here!
The initiative by the National Trust to encourage us all to open our eyes and see what is around us is to be commended. The driving force in, 1895, behind the conception of The National Trust was Octavia Hill with the first nature reserve being Wicken Fen.
The organisation is now responsible for 610,000 acres and is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom.
Stop ! Look & Wonder at all around you in the West Country
The Woodland Trust campaigns to stop the irreversible destruction of ancient woodland and unnecessary loss of trees from our cities. Founded in 1972 they have now planted millions of trees and prevented the loss of ancient woods.
“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide”
A E Houseman – A Shropshire Lad
We look forward to
meeting customers both
old and new at
Monkton Wyld
Holiday Park
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