CHAINED OAK

'The Chained Oak' is the local legend of Alton Village in Staffordshire, England.

Contents

Legend

Location

Trivia

External links

Legend

The legend goes that on an autumn night in 1821, the Earl of Shrewsbury was returning to his home in Alton Towers when an old woman suddenly appeared in the road.
The coach stopped to find why she was there, and then the old woman begged for a coin.
The Earl cruelly dismissed her, so the old woman placed a curse on him. The old woman said, "For every branch on the Old Oak Tree here that falls, a member of the Earl’s family will die." The Earl dismissed this and carried on his way.
That night, during a violent storm a single branch from the old oak tree broke and fell. Later that same night, a member of the Earl’s family suddenly and mysteriously died. To prevent any more deaths the Earl ordered his servants to chain every branch together to prevent other branches from falling. To this day the Oak tree remains chained up.
'Now, there are two versions. The Alton Towers one is that she said that for every branch of the tree that fell off, a member of his household would die. That night there was a terrible storm and the tree was struck by lightning and a branch broke, at that instant a member of the Earl's family was struck stone dead.
The second version is that the Earl's son was out riding the next day and as he passed the old oak tree the woman had been standing under a branch fell ontop of him, knocking him from his horse and killing him. This story is slighty more plausable, as there are records of a riding accident around that time.
Whatever happened, the end result was still the same. The Earl, to try and protect himself from the curse, ordered that the tree be chained up, to prevent any more fatalities.'
Alton Towers Commented: As of 9 April 2007, one of the main branches on the tree has fallen off. It's been confirmed by the family that no one has died since after the branch fell off meaning the tree is not cursed.

Location

The tree can be found in the woods near Alton Village. The tree itself has worn down steps leading up to it from the path.

Trivia

★ A movie based on the legend has been scheduled for 2007 by Ghosthunter Dean Maynard

★ The ride ''Hex'' at the theme park Alton Towers is based on a fanciful elaboration of this legend.

External links

★ BBC Article

★ More photos and information from towersnerd.com

★ Official Movie Site