Bright Oak
Encyclopedia
The "Bright Oak" near Headingley
in Leeds
, England was an important landmark and meeting location going back hundreds of years.
Early Celtic tribes in the British Isles
frequently met at prominent features of the landscape. The Bright Oak historically stands as a notable meeting place for wise and powerful people to gather and solve problems. One such meeting place near Leeds (Headingley
) was an oak tree in the forest. This great shire oak will have been prominent due to its exceptionally bright and shiny leaves, since the meeting place, was named Siaraches, from Old English siar, "bright" and aches, "oak". Siaraches was a focal point for the Brythonic
kingdom of Elmet
, and when the Vikings invaded and Headingley became part of the Wapentake of Skyrack (a variation of Siaraches), a local court met often beneath its wide branches.
It is believed to have been the very oak that stood in the centre of the village for 1500 years but finally collapsed in 1941. With such a long history, Headingley was unwilling to give up its living symbol, and in 1956 an oak sapling was planted on the ancient site in the centre of the village.
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road...
in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, England was an important landmark and meeting location going back hundreds of years.
Early Celtic tribes in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
frequently met at prominent features of the landscape. The Bright Oak historically stands as a notable meeting place for wise and powerful people to gather and solve problems. One such meeting place near Leeds (Headingley
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road...
) was an oak tree in the forest. This great shire oak will have been prominent due to its exceptionally bright and shiny leaves, since the meeting place, was named Siaraches, from Old English siar, "bright" and aches, "oak". Siaraches was a focal point for the Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
kingdom of Elmet
Elmet
Elmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
, and when the Vikings invaded and Headingley became part of the Wapentake of Skyrack (a variation of Siaraches), a local court met often beneath its wide branches.
It is believed to have been the very oak that stood in the centre of the village for 1500 years but finally collapsed in 1941. With such a long history, Headingley was unwilling to give up its living symbol, and in 1956 an oak sapling was planted on the ancient site in the centre of the village.