 The tree stood on a raised platform in an area of clayey swamp land (known as carse in Scotland); the platform was originally in diameter but had decayed by the 1800s.The tree is known as the "Wallace Oak", "Wallace's Tree" and "Wallace's Oak" for its association with 13th & 14th-century Scottish independence leader William Wallace.Wallace is said to have retreated to the Torwood after a defeat in the north of the country and hidden within its hollow trunk.