On the lawn outside Enagh House is a most magnificent oak tree, perfect in form, with smooth trunk and a mass of branches spreading out symmetrically.
The trunk is relatively modest in girth compared with the immense area of the canopy which creates its own tree kingdom.
It is the focus for incredibly rich wildlife, including a colony of red squirrels whose lives are centred on this single vast tree.
The house is outside Derry City, on the eastern side of Lough Foyle, and was built beside the ancient site of Enagh Church and graveyard.
The tree is much older than the house, which was built in the nineteenth century by the Alexander family, major local landowners. The complex of Enagh Loughs east and west with small streams, wet woodland, and a range of trees of different ages and species makes an excellent wildlife area. The oak is at its heart.