A remarkable 13-metre table made from a 5,000-year-old Fenland Black Oak is set to go on show at Blackburn Cathedral for a year, giving visitors in the town a chance to see a piece of timber older than the pyramids.
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The work, known as Table for the Nation, is made from ancient fossilised oak taken from what is described as the nation’s most significant tree. It was discovered in 2012, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, then completed, unveiled and dedicated to her in 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee year.
Blackburn Cathedral said the table will begin a 12-month residency from May 2026 and remain there until April 2027.
It will be available to view during normal opening hours and will also be used for special worship, community activities and commercial events during the cathedral’s centenary year.
An accompanying exhibition will explain how the project developed from trunk to finished table.
Before coming to Blackburn, the table had been displayed at Ely, Rochester, Lincoln and Lichfield cathedrals. Blackburn will be the furthest north it has travelled.
Revd. Canon Andrew Horsfall, Interim Dean of Blackburn, said: “We are delighted and deeply honoured that Blackburn Cathedral will be home to the Fenland Black Oak Table.
“This magnificent work of exceptional skill and artistry is genuinely without equal. We trust it inspires all who gather around it.
“As a powerful centrepiece that draws people together, we hope it will stand as a unifying focal point – truly living up to its calling as ‘A Table for the Nation’.”
