An enormous and infamous oak tree in Staffordshire has been bound in huge chains for over a century. Now a tourist draw and theme park motif, this strange tree has become the subject of a sinister local legend.

According to local tales, one night, the Earl of Shrewsbury was travelling through the village of Alton on his way home to Alton Towers (Which was just a stately home at this point. The rollercoasters hadn’t been shipped in yet.). Without warning, and old woman suddenly appeared in front of his coach, starling his horses. The Earl stopped, and he and his driver asked what the woman wanted. Her reply was simple, just a simple coin; she was clearly old and in need, and a donation would be of little consequence to the wealthy Earl. While the Earl was rich, he had little time for the old woman and quickly dismissed her, angry that she had delayed his journey.

The old woman didn’t take kindly to the Earl’s cruelty and told him that she would place a curse on him and his family; for every branch that fell from the great oak, a member of his family would die. Once more, the Earl gave little thought to the ramblings of the old woman, dismissed talk of a curse and headed back on his way to Alton Towers (once more, no rollercoasters, no Nemesis, nothing).

While the Earl slumbered in his bed that very evening, a fierce storm raged outside, tearing a single branch from the oak tree. Sure enough, that same night, a member of the Earl’s family mysteriously died.

When the Earl awoke and learned of the tragic news, he fully believed in the old woman’s curse, and the power of the oak. In an attempt to save his family, he ordered that every branch of the oak tree be bound up in chains to prevent it from falling. To this day, the old oak remains surrounded in chains.

In 2007, a large branch fell from the old oak, but the Earl’s descendants confirmed that everyone was still accounted for. Sadly, since this final murderous attempt by an admittedly weakening curse, much of the oak has disintegrated, in part due to the age of some of the chains. News reports stated that one chain, being vital to the structural integrity of the tree, had rusted and failed at last, causing the collapse of a large part of the tree. Currently, most of the tree still stands, bound in chains, but with each storm and layer of rust, the curse seems to lessen, and the tree seems to weaken. Presumably providing some comfort for the Earl’s family.

But who was the Earl and when did this legend first appear? According to the most common versions of the tale, the Earl of Shrewsbury was either the 15th or 16th Earl, depending on the earliest viable date, which is either the 1820s or 40s, depending on your source. 

The 16th Earl of the 1840s, John Talbot, was renowned for his philanthropy and support of local schools and churches; acts that earned him the nickname ‘Good Earl John’. Such a glowing reputation doesn’t align with a man who would deny an old woman a penny. The 15th Earl, Charles Talbot, seems to be the most fitting, but this seems to be purely because of his lack of a complimentary nickname.

Aside from preventing a tree-based curse from enacting its evil will, why else would a tree have been chained? One option was that it was bound, simply to try and hold it together and prevent the bulk of the tree from collapsing in on itself – as the tree was in a prime position in the ever-extending Alton Towers gardens. Boredom, mischief or a misjudged place to store your excess metalwork? There are few other options that read as enjoyably as a mysterious old woman and generational curse.

In modern Alton life, the story of the chained oak lives on in Alton Towers theme park, where the story has been re-written and dramatised for the ride ‘Hex – The Legend of the Towers’, a walkthrough dark ride based around the chained oak legend.

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