Tea Party Oak at Ickworth Park near Bury St Edmunds makes shortlist for national Tree of the Year 2024 contest

An ancient oak in Suffolk has made the shortlist for the national Tree of the Year 2024 contest.

The Tea Party Oak at Ickworth Park, near Bury St Edmunds, is one of 12 nominees competing to be crowned the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year winner.

Aged over 700 years old and with a girth of 12.80m, the gnarled old oak has been fenced for protection from human footfall.

The Tea Party Oak takes its name from the tea parties held beneath its boughs for village children some 100 years ago.

These gatherings were first organised by the fourth Marquess and Marchioness of Bristol and became a much-loved tradition.

The tree now offers food and shelter for more than 300 species including bats, birds and small mammals.

Other contenders include the 1,200-year-old Marton Oak in Cheshire, which is the oldest on the list and also has the UK's widest trunk with a 46ft (14m) girth.

A panel of experts from the Woodland Trust charity selected the shortlist of trees.

An online public poll will select the winner, which will then compete in the European Tree of the Year contest in early 2025.