AN oak tree grown from an acorn by a well-known doctor and author has been made the subject of a preservation order.

The tree at Kings Meade in Coleford commemorates Dr Bill Tandy, who worked in India before coming to the Forest, where he worked as a GP and an assistant surgeon at the Dilke and Lydney hospitals.

Dr Tandy, who retired to Monmouth where he died aged 90 in 1995, published two books about his experiences, Doctor in the Forest (1978) and The Ever Rolling Stream (1985).

Last May, the Forest Council made a temporary tree preservation order after hearing that a community project intended to include it in a literary trail.

But it received an objection from the owner of the tree saying there was “no justifiable reason” to protect the oak which was “little more than a sap­ling”.

The objector, who has not been identified by the council, claimed the action was “politically motivated to restrict access to adjoining land” earmarked for up to 48 new homes.

The matter was considered by the Forest Council’s planning committee on Tuesday, September 12, where members confirmed the preservation order after hearing that the tree was of cultural importance due to its links to Dr Tandy.

One of his six grandchildren told the council Dr Tandy found the acorn while walking in the woods and took it home and tended it until his death, after which it was planted as a tribute to him in Kings Meade.

His family said: “Our grandfather was a larger than life character and a highly respected ‘Doctor in the Forest’.

The order was also supported by the Reading the Forest project, part of the wider Foresters’ Forest partnership, which wants to create a Dean literary trail.

It makes cutting down, lopping, uprooting, damaging or destroying the tree without consent an offence.