On Monday Lichfield Cathedral had the honour of receiving a visit from a very special guest – His Majesty King Charles III.
While at the cathedral the King met with a number of volunteers and community groups, and learned about the “Table for the Nation” - a 13 metre long table made from 5,000-year-old black oak.
The oak originates, according to the project, in East Anglia where “an incredible high forest of gigantic oak trees once stood, deep within the Fenland Basin of ancient East Anglia".
"Over time, and with a rise in sea levels, these spectacular trees fell into the silt of the flooded forest floor. There they lay unseen and undisturbed, preserved in the peat for five millennia," the cathedral said.
The oaks were discovered in 2012 during routine farming work in Norfolk. The specimen used to make the table was milled and then dried before being turned into planks of wood that were used to create the Table for the Nation, currently being housed at Lichfield Cathedral.
King Charles also heard a performance from Lichfield Cathedral Choir and a music outreach programme, and heard how the cathedral is working to train the next generation of heritage craftsmen and stonemasons.
The Rt Rev Jan McFarlane, Dean of Lichfield said, “We were thrilled to welcome His Majesty the King 14 years after the late Queen Elizabeth II, visited us.
"We are so proud of our magnificent cathedral and city and it means a great deal to everyone to be able to show the King all that is happening in our community.
“The cathedral is hosting the awe inspiring Fenland Black Oak Table this year, and we gathered around it groups which represent all that is creative in our city and county, as well as demonstrating how we are encouraging heritage crafts with our trainee stonemasons, and encouraging young people through our music outreach programme.”
