history
The Royal Oak has had a varied history, having been in its time a cheese house and a cider house. The buildings are over 200 years and was at one time two cottages before becoming an Inn. At the bottom of the Beer Garden is the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR).
A major development at the start of the century was the arrival of the railway in 1906 which linked Winchcombe with Cheltenham and beyond. Part of this development included a halt at Gretton. This opened up employment opportunities in all sorts of ways. We have been told that locals once used to give train drivers beer at the bottom of the garden when passing through. Steam and heritage diesel trains still pass by on route between Broadway and Cheltenham Race Course.
the oak
Our 200 year old dead oak tree after a professional assessment was likely to be chopped down due to its overall health, but the pub decided to save it! It’s obviously sad to see the demise of any great tree, and nobody wants to cut down something so majestic. In the case of The Royal Oak, the name wouldn’t make sense any more after the tree was gone! Our tree surgeon from Meadowside Tree Care suggested we contact Simon O’Rourke.
A little context… 1642 – 1651 saw civil war in England. A series of battles over the governance of England between the Roundheads (Parliamentarians) and the Cavaliers (Royalists). It’s said that after King Charles was defeated at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he fled and ended up at Boscobel House. The Peverell family hid him in their priest hole then disguised him as a woodsman so he could get away. Apparently, King Charles II then hid up an oak tree for a full day to hide from the Roundhead soldiers searching for him below.
today
In February 2023 Simon spent a total of six days expertly crafting and adding texture to the to the trunk. When he started looking for reference photos, Simon found there are lots of variations on King Charles II features. A few consistencies though were his nose, slightly sunken eyes, and, the big thing that gives away it’s King Charles II’s hair. Partly for this reason (but others too), Simon decided to carve him without his hat. He stuck to the clothes that are documented as part of his woodsman disguise: a coarse short, leather jerkin, breeches and ill fitting shoes.
If you look closely, Simon added the relief carving of the Roundhead soldier to really bring the story to life! We hope it gives pleasure to many visitors to the pub and it has given new life to the dead oak that has been in situ for a couple of hundred years. You can find a vide of the carving process here. Learn more about Simon and the carving process here.
The dead oak tree before carving commenced
Simon working on the custom carving of King Charles II
