[1][2][3][4] It was one of a number of oaks that historically marked the boundary of between Selwood Forest and Gillingham Forest, a medieval hunting ground.

[1] It is named after Sir Hugh Wyndham, a Judge of the Common Pleas who used to sit in its shade to relax while contemplating cases,[1][5] and was reputedly used as a gallows from which to hang rebels convicted of participation in the Monmouth rebellion.

[5] It was the subject of an engraving during the reign of George III,[2] and a drawing by the artist Mark Frith, which was commissioned by publisher Felix Dennis and bequeathed by him to the charity he founded, the Heart of England Forest.

[7] It was one of ten candidates in the Woodland Trust's poll to find the "England's Tree of the Year 2018".

[8] As of September 2019, the ground where the tree stands is part of a privately owned farm.