‘Most famous tree in the world’: Sherwood Forest’s 1,000-year-old Major oak dies

Rob Brackley, an outdoor education tutor dressed as Robin Hood, at the Major oak tree in Sherwood Forest, which this year has not come into leaf. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

The Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died.

The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers.