It was mentioned by John Evelyn in 1664, and John Aubrey mentioned it in his Natural History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey, published in 1718–19.

[2] There is a hollow interior space, with a door about 4 feet (1.2 m) high.

[2] When the hollow space was created in 1820, a cannonball was discovered embedded in the side, probably from a nearby skirmish during the English Civil War.

At one time the Parish Council met at the tree.

[1][3] It was designated by the Tree Council as one of the 50 Great British Trees in the United Kingdom, to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.