"In some districts we are growing oak, and it may interest hon. Members to know that a number of the oak trees which I felled for the restoration of Westminster Hall had over 600 annual rings, that is, they were over 600 years old, and as it is safe to assume that the great beams which they were replacing in Westminster Hall must have been at least of a similar age, you get (?)90 per cent. of that roof taking you back to the days before King Alfred burnt the cakes." From a speech made in Parliament by George Courthope on 1 July 1938.
spectator.co.uk
archive.spectator.co.uk
"Historic Oaks". The Spectator. 3 August 1929. p. 14. Retrieved 21 October 2018.