The Chained Oak Tree

One autumn night in 1821, Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury was returning to his home in Alton Towers when he came upon an old beggar woman. The Earl dismissed her, so she put a curse on him. For every branch that fell from the Old Oak Tree, a member of his family would die. The Earl's son was our riding the next day and a limb of the tree fell on him, killing him. The Earl ordered the tree to be chained up to prevent any more deaths. The chain, now grown into the tree and rusted, has resulted in the collapse of part of the tree, but no more deaths have been reported.