Tuesday 1 May 2012

From the Smallest Acorn: Kett's Oak

An early-morning visit to Kett's Oak, on the road between Wymondham and Norwich. This is said to be the spot at which the rebel Robert Kett addressed his followers and swore an oath to 'reform the Church and the State,' before marching to Norwich in the failed Norfolk Rising of 1549. There is uncertainty as to whether this is the actual tree in whose shade the rebels once stood, or whether it was planted in commemeration some time after 1549. Either way, it is a local landmark, and is being preserved by the Norfolk County Council. Another 'Kett's Oak' once stood on Mousehold Heath, at the centre of the rebels' camp, ensuring the oak tree became something of a symbol for the uprising.

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