Shakespeare Oak

The oak tree standing here represents a massive act of public defiance from the nineteenth century. In April 1864, an estimated one hundred thousand people marched to this hillside to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. They gathered because they were dissatisfied with the lackluster efforts of the government-appointed committee tasked with honoring the playwright. The event was organized by the Workingmen's Shakespeare Committee, which sought to reclaim the Bard as a hero for the common people rather than a figure belonging solely to the elite. During the ceremony, the poet Eliza Cooke read a specially composed ode that explicitly declared Shakespeare to be a child of England's working men. The original tree planted that day stood for one hundred years before it eventually died, leading to its replacement by the current oak in 1964.