If old trees are the wise grandparents of the natural world, then ancient trees are its benevolent monarchs. Technically categorised as trees in the third and final stage of life, they are relics from another age – living monuments to natural and human history. Many have survived wars, plagues, floods and droughts; seen governments rise and fall; and grown to epic proportions in the process.
Like many humans, the older a tree gets, the shorter and fatter it becomes – which makes it instantly recognisable, as well as somewhat prone to anthropomorphisation. Whether knobbly and gnarled, or twisted and labyrinthine, their often characterful appearance sparks the popular imagination – be it the impressively stout and hollow Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, within which Robin Hood is said to have hidden from the Sheriff of Nottingham; or the King of Limbs in Savernake Forest, the 12-trunked thousand-year-old pollarded oak that inspired Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood to write the eighth Radiohead album.
Some have witnessed events of great historic significance, such as the Great Oak at the Gates of the Dead in Wrexham, which saw the battle of Crogen in 1165 when the Welsh rose up against the army of Henry II, or the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ sycamore in Dorset, under whose branches the very first trade union was formed in 1834. Whether you’re more impressed by the historically important or the simply very, very old, you’re in the right country: there is a larger concentration of ancient trees in the UK than in the whole of northern Europe.
And yet unlike the 500,000 ancient buildings that are officially listed in the UK, there is no dedicated register for the hundreds of thousands of nationally important trees. This means that if a landowner is responsible for an ancient tree but doesn’t appreciate its value (or indeed the cost of its upkeep), the only way to safeguard its future is by dropping a tricky-to-procure Tree Preservation Order on its owner, which can result in hefty fines for neglect or damage. Naturally, this doesn’t win many friends.
The Woodland Trust is trying to improve the situation. In a campaign for a government-recognised register of ‘Trees of National Special Interest’, it is hoping to safeguard the future of the UK’s incredible arboreal heritage once and for all. An official list will help support the landowners and local authorities in charge of these national treasures, giving them a strong case to apply for grants, funding and specialist advice to help older trees that require increasingly high maintenance as they ripen into their silver years.
The venerated botanist and ground-breaking historical ecologist Oliver Rackham, who died earlier this year, once said that “10,000 oaks of 100 years are no substitute for one 500-year-old oak”. And he was right: there is still a huge amount to be learned about the biodiversity that is supported by our leafy, veteran friends. For example, it can take up to 250 years for a tree to become a suitable home for certain types of lichen. Now that’s what you call high maintenance.
Get involved
• Add your voice to the Woodland Trust’s call for a national register of “Very Important Trees”, which will help protect the UK’s oldest living relics.
• Visit an ancient tree near you by finding your nearest recorded specimen at the Woodland Trust’s own Ancient Tree Hunt, an inventory with search facilities, maps, photos and the vital statistics of each tree featured.
