Quite common on Oak Trees in and around Wenvoe is the gall shown in the photo known as the Marble Gall. It can be found on the Community Orchard, the Welsh Orchard and the Upper Orchid Field.<\/p>\n
It is often confused with the Oak Apple but these are uncommon in this part of the world. The marble gall is caused by an insect which lays an egg on the Oak and the ‘marble’ which soon grows provides a living space for the young larva.\u00a0Most of the galls at this time of year will have a small, neat hole in the side through which the young insect has escaped.<\/p>\n
Galls have a surprisingly important role to play in our written records as they were used to make the ink which most of our important documents were written in for over 1,000 years. From the 5th century through to the 19th and even into the 20th century, tannin was extracted from galls and mixed with other chemicals to produce the ink used in key documents such as the Magna Carta and American Declaration of Independence. Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Victor Hugo also used it.<\/p>\n
The charter on the left-hand wall as you enter the Bear Hotel in Cowbridge would probably have used Gall Ink. Articles on Gall Ink often feature the Marble Gall but therein lies a problem as that gall was only introduced to Britain in the 18th century and it needs the presence of another type of oak, the Turkey Oak, which is not native and has only been around for last 200-300 years to complete its life cycle.<\/p>\n
It would be interesting to know if before the 1700s British Gall Ink used other types of galls or whether European Galls were imported and used to make the ink. If you think you know, why not drop a line to Whats On.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quite common on Oak Trees in and around Wenvoe is the gall shown in the photo known as the Marble Gall. It can be found on the Community Orchard, the Welsh Orchard and the Upper Orchid Field. It is often confused with the Oak Apple but these are uncommon in this part of the world. The marble gall is caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49],"tags":[60,59],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/gall.jpg?fit=950%2C818","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-58","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3567,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3567","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":0},"title":"Mysterious Nature","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Sometimes nature can be a bit baffling. In the photo a Rush (the long straight stalk) has grown through the Alder leaf - both are undamaged. How can this happen? Does the Alder leaf sit quietly without moving until the Rush grows through it? Or did a gust of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4677,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4677","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":1},"title":"The Marble Gall","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We often refer to the Marble Gall at our talks and on our walks and usually comment that they are regularly confused with Oak Apple Galls which we have never seen. On the Orchard Walk in May we saw one for the first time and this was on the border\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9602,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9602","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":2},"title":"Oak Apple Day","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday 29th May is Oak Apple Day so don't forget to celebrate our wonderful oak trees. Take the time to admire them, give them a hug, write a poem about them or paint or photograph them. If you have children, make sure they can identify an oak with its very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Oak-apple-stock-1-300x258.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3601,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3601","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":3},"title":"Sputnik Pea Gall","author":"Alan Williams","date":"25th August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 This fellow traveler took off sixty years ago and it was the first of its kind. The second one carried a dog and the photo shows one of several found down at Goldsland Farm. Confused? Well, the first artificial earth satellite was, of course, Sputnik, which is Russian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13023,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13023","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":4},"title":"Is Ours A Loveless County?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A loveless county? Is ours a loveless county? Judging by the records of Mistletoe growing in the Vale of Glamorgan, you might think so. The wildlife database, Aderyn, only has two records for the Vale of Glamorgan - one in Wenvoe and two in Dinas Powys. The photo shows the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10616,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10616","url_meta":{"origin":318,"position":5},"title":"What, No Acorns?\u00a0","author":"Alan Williams","date":"19th November 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"What, No Acorns?\u00a0 Have you noticed the lack of acorns this year? Robert Reader got in touch as he had noticed they were few and far between combined with large amounts of the husks of conkers lying around. So, what are the squirrels up to? 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