The Table
Now in residency at Lincoln Cathedral. A spectacular 13 metre long ‘Table for the Nation’ was created from a section of the nation’s most significant tree, a gigantic 5000 year old Fenland Black Oak.
‘A Table for the Nation’
at Lincoln Cathedral
Y O U R T A B L E A W A I T S
You can experience ‘A Table for the Nation’ at Lincoln Cathedral, where it is in residency until April 2025. The table is accompanied by an insightful exhibition which details the history of the project, Black Oak and our ancient high forests.
Foundations for Lincoln Cathedral were laid in 1072 and in 1311 became the tallest building in the world. How fitting therefore that over 700 years later the Cathedral will be displaying a table made from the nation’s tallest and most ancient Oak tree.
Many of the craftspeople who made the table feel an affinity with the work ethic of the people who built Lincoln Cathedral. We believe this results in a similar aesthetic as both the Cathedral and the table, in their own ways, evoke a sense of wonder.
Black Oaks are still occasionally unearthed from the Lincolnshire fens and we hope the environmental and sustainability messages embodied by ‘A Table for the Nation’ will play an active part in Lincoln Cathedral’s ‘Our world: God’s creation’ theme for 2024.
Lincoln is located in the East Midlands of England, just 40 miles north of Nottingham and is easily accessible by car and by public transport. Please visit the Lincoln Cathedral website for further information.
The Fenland Black Oak Table at Lincoln Cathedral
“We are looking forward to hosting the Fenland Black Oak Table at the Cathedral in the coming months. We hope that many people will take the opportunity to visit the Cathedral to see this unique item. Reminding us of the lost landscape of the Fens from 5,000 years ago, it will serve as a focus for people to reflect on the changing nature of the landscape.
As a product of skilled craftsmen and women, who have worked to reveal the natural beauty of the Black Oak, we envision that people will be inspired to gather around the table at the various events we will host—fostering connections in a place of beauty and with a sense of wonder.
Inspired by its timeless appeal, the table will act as a focal point to bring people together to tackle the challenges of our time as we take up the challenge of being good stewards of our world, which is God’s creation.”
—The Reverend Canon Nick Brown. Precentor of Lincoln
Scale and majesty
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The story begins 5000 years ago when an incredible ancient high forest of massive oak trees once stood deep within the Fenland Basin of East Anglia. Over time, and with a rise in sea levels, these spectacularly tall trees fell into the silt of the flooded forest floor. There they lay, unseen and undisturbed, preserved in the peat for five millennia. Until now...
During routine cultivations in the spring of 2012 on a farm in the Wissington Fens of south-west Norfolk, a 13.2 metre section of one of the greatest of these buried giants was unearthed.
This magnificent tree represented the greatest creative opportunity to give a unique insight into the scale and majesty of the ancient high forests growing 5000 years ago.
Against all odds, specialist craftspeople successfully milled and dried this remarkable discovery, preserving it at full length and in perpetuity.
Discovered in the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, it is now known as the ‘Jubilee Oak’. This is one of Britain’s most important oak trees—not just for its vast size and ancient provenance, but for the work of art now fashioned from it.
The planks from the Jubilee Oak have been used to create a unique artefact to form part of our national heritage—‘A Table for the Nation’.
An official inscription carved at one end of the Fenland Black Oak Table acknowledges the tree’s discovery in 2012, in commemoration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee year. At the opposite end, a second inscription acknowledges the table’s completion in 2022, in commemoration of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee year.
Following on from its initial residency at Ely Cathedral the Fenland Black Oak Table will tour the country for at least a further two years.
The table is currently at Lincoln Cathedral where it will be on public display until April 2025.
A selection of photos of the table’s previous residencies at Ely Cathedral and Rochester Cathedral