Remembering Professor Oliver Rackham

Hometree recently received a letter from Ted Cook in remembrance of Professor Oliver Rackham. For over 30 years, Ted has been teaching in Cork about the importance of our native trees and how to cultivate them. We are deeply grateful to Ted for sharing this tribute, as we take a moment to honour and remember Dr. Rackham’s invaluable contributions on the 10th anniversary of his passing.

January 28th 2025

Professor Oliver Rackham

(October 17, 1939 – February 12, 2015)

We remember Dr. Rackham on the 10th anniversary of his passing.

2015 also marks the 40th anniversary of his completion of the most important book written on the historical ecology of Britian and Ireland – History of the Countryside (published 1956).

Born in Bungay, Suffolk, Dr Rackham won a major entrance scholarship to Cambridge in 1958 – where he remained for the rest of his career. Long haired with a full beard, wearing orange socks with sandals, Dr. Rackham was elevated to Master of Corpus Christie College in 2007.

A frequent visitor to Ireland and annual attendee of discontinued Burren Symposium Ecology Festival in North Clare. His last (of many) public events in Ireland was at the Galway Garden Festival (lecture series) marking U.N. International Year of Forests (July 10th, 2011) – through Andrew St Ledger and author (Woodland League) maintained contact with ‘our hero’.

Storm Éowyn has just passed over – older readers may remember the Great Storm 1987 that struck Britain in October.

As a Landscape Historian , Plant Breeding Researcher Botanist extraordinaire, teacher and author Rackham was a Political Ecologist – questioning environmental policy and incisively critising the Westminister Parliament.

He dismissed outright any attempts to replant the devastated woodlands of England's South-East- ‘far better’ he argued ‘ to leave regeneration to nature – This Great Storm has totally helped sweep away – and undo much of the ill-advised planting of previous decades.

The Professor's last and parting gift to his global listenership/readership was ‘The Ash Tree’ (Presented to the author in December 2014 by Hometree’s Jeremy Turkington, which I abidingly treasure).

Ted Cook
Schools Heritage Specialist