The Cork Tree in Tenterfield is believed to be Australia’s largest cork tree, brought from England in a jam jar by Edward Parker and planted in 1861.
It sits on the side of Wood Street in Tenterfield, an aptly named street with the big tree. Over 160 years old, the tree has grown to a majestic size. It is a natural entry to Australia’s list of big things.
It is believed cork trees have magical powers, bringing good luck by performing a simple ritual. Walk around the tree three times, then make your wish. It is a practice performed by travellers during the Great Plague of London in 1665.
It is a practice I haven’t heard mentioned during COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll have to find a more local tree to avoid possible border closures. Tenterfield’s Giant Cork Tree is over a fence on private property so you can’t walk around it three times, instead, making a wish standing in front of the tree.
In addition to their magical properties, cork trees are used to make cork wine stoppers. This much most of us know, however, you may not know is only the bark that is used to make them. The cork tree is a type of oak tree. The tree matures after 25 years when the first bark stripping can be performed. It is then barked every 9 to 10 years.
The bark from the cork tree is also used for making other products, including gaskets, floor tiles, shoe heels, golf balls and hockey pucks, and fridge insulation.
Cork trees have a life of around 300 years so the Tenterfield Cork Tree has a few years left to continue to age and grow. It remains for its historical interest, so the many years of potential harvesting of cork tree bark are not utilised.
A large cork forest is located in the ACT at the National Arboretum. The forest was first planted in 1917, more than 50 years younger than Tenterfield’s big tree. The cork trees at the National Arboretum have had the bark harvested 
a few times over the years.
The last time we were in Tenterfield (around 2019), we didn’t know of the cork tree or its brown sign, until we left and returned home. In 2025, we knew were to go and it is now a visited brown sign destination.
