A fact from Oak at the Gate of the Dead appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 April 2018 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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I've added a little on the etymology of the place name. The name "Oak at the Gate of the Dead" is modern, as is its Welsh derivation Adwy'r Meirwon (lit: "gap of the dead"), neither of which are recorded before the 2000s and both of which were I suppose coined as part of the campaign to recognise the tree - I seem to recall the English version was used first. The place was long called Adwy'r Beddau, or the "gap of the graves", as recorded by the Royal Commission and other sources. There were said to have been graves still visible here in the late 17th century.Svejk74 (talk) 09:20, 13 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Just to add, a bit of research has shown the identification of the oak definitely dates to c.2006 when a Woodland Trust volunteer located it as part of a project to record veteran trees. They were told by someone living nearby that the place was called "the Gate of the Dead" (i.e. they were given a mistranslation of the ancient placename Adwy'r Bedd) hence the name under which the oak was subsequently reported.
There is no particular evidence associating it with the battle. The recorder who found it estimated it was at least 800 years old, and therefore contemporary with Crogen, though also stated that was much less than the 1200 reported in the press (not sure where they got that one from). It would be interesting to see if the tree's actual age has been determined by samples.Svejk74 (talk) 13:56, 13 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
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