Battle over ancient oak used to spy on Charles I's soldiers

A ROW has erupted over whether to chop down a 700-year-old tree once used to spy on King Charles I's army.

- Ed Cullinane

The oak was used as a lookout by Parliamentary Roundhead forces to secretly watch Royalist armies during the English Civil War in April 1643.

But plans to replace the ancient "King's Spy Oak" with a three-bed house have sparked a split between developers and residents in Caversham, Berks.

The oak is subject to a tree preservation order but Chair Homes describes it as "diseased" in the planning application.

The company says it would replace the oak with two new trees, though this has been met with massive opposition from locals.

One resident, Emma Bennett, says a rotting oak tree like this one is "a vital and increasingly rare eco-system".