Sevenoaks

Wikipedia informs us that: "The town's name is derived from the Old English word Seouenaca, the name given to a small chapel near seven oak trees on The Vine around AD 800." The Vine is a tract of land that's thought to have been used as a vineyard at one time by the Archbishops of Canterbury. It's now one of England's oldest cricket grounds – given to the town of Sevenoaks in 1773 by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset.

The first documented reference to a settlement in Sevenoaks dates from the 13th century, when a market was established there. In 1456 Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, purchased the Knole estate and built Knole House – which became one of England's biggest houses, and still dominates the town. In 1566 it was bought by Thomas Sackville, who was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, and it has been the home of the Sackville family (including the aforementioned 3rd Duke of Dorset) ever since.

Vita Sackville-West was one of the Sackvilles of Knole, and her book Knole and the Sackvilles, published in 1922, is regarded as a classic in the literature of English country houses. Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando drew on the tumultuous history of the house and the Sackvilles. Elements of the character of the androgynous Orlando are said to be based on Vita Sackville-West. Woolf and Sackville-West were friends and lovers.

Wikipedia continues: "The eponymous oak trees in Knole Park have been replaced several times over the centuries. In 1902 seven oaks were planted on the north side of The Vine cricket ground to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII. During the Great Storm of 1987, six of those trees were blown down. Their replacements, planted in a ceremony involving well-known people from television shows such as Blue Peter and locals such as Gloria Hunniford and Caron Keating, were vandalised, leaving the one mature tree standing. The trees have been replaced and eight Oak trees of varying ages line The Vine."

The formerly dense woodland of Knole Park has still not fully recovered from the loss of more than 70% of its trees in the Great Storm of 1987.