A NEW woodland is being created at Kingston Lacy Estate to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II.

A total of 96 oak trees will be planted – one for each year of the Queen’s life – on the estate at Shapwick on Saturday, November 18.

The trees have been donated to the National Trust by local conservation charity, Trees for Dorset.

The oaks were supplied by Trees for Dorset and grown by Rosie and John Palmer from second-generation acorns collected by them from the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.

This iconic tree, which is between 800-1,000 years old, was voted Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year in the 2014.

Residents of Shapwick have been invited to come together with National Trust staff and volunteers, and volunteers from Trees for Dorset to plant the oaks.

They will also sign a commemorative book that will be sent to King Charles III.

The woodland will be a community amenity and extended next year with further planting of orchard and woodland trees.

Eleanor Egan, countryside manager at Kingston Lacy, said: “We have some pretty big tree-planting ambitions at Kingston Lacy – we are planning to plant more than 9,000 trees next year, because of the importance of trees not only as a source of food and shelter for wildlife but also as a means of locking up atmospheric carbon.”

Rachel Palmer, former chair at Trees for Dorset (treesfordorset.co.uk) and responsible for thousands of trees being planted across Dorset, said: “In the words of Richard St.Barbe Baker, founder of the International Tree Foundation from which Trees for Dorset sprang, this prestigious planting is a real ‘togetherness effort’, with the National Trust providing land, care, planters and expertise, Trees for Dorset providing the trees, expertise and planters, and Dorset County Council providing protection for the trees.”