Lonsdale's Oak Tree
Lonsdale’s oak tree towers above campus atop the hill behind the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity (formerly known as the Hobbies Building). A plaque near its base reads, “The Founder of the School, Christopher Windley Londsdale, planted this oak tree in the early 1930s. It grew from an acorn that the Headmaster brought from Sherwood Forest, England.”
The acorn was planted near the H. T. Ravenhill home, which the School acquired and dubbed "Hill House.” Staff and senior students moved into Hill House after the 1926 fire burned all the other school buildings, except the gymnasium that was under construction at the time. Six years later, in 1932, Hill House burned to the ground, the last link to the original School to disappear. Was the acorn planted near Hill House before the fire, or was it planted soon after as a tribute to Horace Ravenhill and his sisters, who had originally sold Lonsdale the property and who had offered generous support, materially and morally, in the early years? The tree was carefully preserved when Lake's House was later built on the site and stands tall and sturdy to this day.
Long-time Shawnigan teacher Lynne Grass annually collects dropped acorns scattered around the base of Lonsdale’s Oak and gives them to her students, encouraging them to plant them somewhere special so that a little piece of Shawnigan — or would it be the Sherwood Forest? — may live on.
The information presented in this write-up is based on current information available in the School's Archives and consultation with key people who have some relevant connection to this "object." If you have further information about this "object" that you would like to contribute, please contact the School’s Advancement Office at alumni@shawnigan.ca.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
