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Ely Cathedral: Table made from ancient tree ready for Jubilee

A table made from a 5,000-year-old oak tree is due to be unveiled at a cathedral this month in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The 13m (43ft) table for Ely Cathedral was created from a black oak, found buried and preserved in a field at Wissington Fen, Norfolk, in 2012.

Specialists have spent 10 years crafting the piece of furniture.

The Cambridgeshire cathedral said it was "very honoured" to be the first venue to host it.

Other Fenland Black Oak lifted from a farmer's field in Methwold Hythe, NorfolkOther
The trunk of a giant Fenland black oak, or bog oak, was found buried in farmland at Methwold Hythe, near Downham Market, in 2012

Thousands of years ago the East Anglian Fens was densely forested by large oak trees which, due to rising seas, fell into the silt of the flooded forest floor and were preserved in the peat.

The trunk of a giant Fenland black oak, or bog oak, was found buried in farmland at Methwold Hythe, near Downham Market, in 2012.

Ely Cathedral A table made from the wood of a 5,000-year-old oak tree enters Ely CathedralEly Cathedral
The table takes up too much space in the Lady Chapel, where it was originally envisaged as going, so has been placed in the cathedral nave

Hamish Low, from furniture specialists Adamson and Low, has led the Fenland Black Oak Project, where a team of privately-funded carpenters created the table.

Using the workshop facilities at the Building Crafts College in Stratford, east London, they encouraged students from their cabinet making and woodworking courses to get involved.

The table was due to be exhibited in the cathedral's Lady Chapel, but its size limited other activities from taking place, so instead it has been placed parallel to the nave in the main cathedral, where visitors can "appreciate the size and craftmanship", a cathedral spokesman said.

The Dean of Ely, the Very Reverend Mark Bonney, said: "Ely Cathedral sits prominently in the Fen landscape, a landscape that 5,000 years ago was dominated not by a cathedral, but by the most magnificent oak trees.

"All that remains of these trees are pieces of black oak that Fen farmers find on a regular basis, though a piece as long as the black oak table is truly remarkable, and its transformation into a magnificent table, [is] a stunning piece of craftsmanship.

"[It] has been dedicated to HM The Queen and we feel very honoured to be the first venue to host it, in this her Platinum Jubilee year."

The table will be in the cathedral from 18 May until March 2023.

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