People love ancient trees, there’s something almost hypnotic about them, the shapes, the patterns and the magic. So how old are our oldest trees? Here we talk about just 6 of our native species.

OAK – this one’s got a few contenders, the Marton, the Bowthorpe, the Big Belly, or the Marthorpe. All of them have a girth in excess of 10 meters with the Marton at 13 meters signifying an age in excess of a 1000 years.

The Bowthorpe (Bowthorpe Park Farm) has a hollow interior and has been fitted with seats, and was apparently used as a dining room for 20 people in the past.

CHESTNUT - The Hughenden tree stands in the Hughenden estate where prime minister Benjamin Disraeli lived and planted many of the trees. With a girth of 7.33 metres it’s old, maybe very. Just imagine the conversations it may have overheard between Queen Victoria and Disraeli whom he served.

YEW - In 1769 the Fortingall yew in Perthshire had a girth of 17 metres! Estimated to be between 2,000 and 5,000 years old it’s still thriving.

WYCH ELM - The wych elm at Beauly Priory in the Highlands is almost 800 years old, with references to the tree found in records going back to medieval times. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has laser-scanned the elm as part of work to document ancient Scottish trees. Looks a little spooky!

ENGLISH ELM - The ‘Preston Park Twins’ in Brighton (although now only one of the twins survive – it’s sibling a victim of DED), were planted during the reign of James I, the twins stood majestically together, each measuring a princely 6.38m in circumference. Once a common sight across Britain, they are sadly no longer. Just one remains and is worth a visit.

and finally,

LIME - The Great Holker lime, on the estate of Holker Hall in Cumbria, is another magnificent specimen to make it into a list of Britain’s top 50 great trees and it’s easy to see why. It is the UK’s largest common lime with an impressive girth of 8m and is 400-700 years old.

If you have an ancient tree why not add it to the ancient tree inventory?

https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/add-a-tree/

Enjoy!

Photo Attribution: An Ancient Yew Tree by Paul Pood