Ancient trees

Great Lime at Holker

One of the largest and finest common limes in Britain, this awe-inspiring tree (Tilia x europaea) has an enormous fluted trunk. Common lime is a hybrid between small-leaved and large-leaved limes, which appears to have arisen naturally. The tree's girth is 25.9 feet (7.9 metres) and it is an amazing tree to behold.

The lime grows in the 25-acre gardens of Holker Hall, an impressive building owned by Lord Cavendish, which is surrounded by a deer park planted in the late 18th century by Lord George Cavendish. It is thought that the "Great Lime" was probably planted as part of the establishment of the formal gardens in the early 17th century. The earliest record of the Holker gardens dates back to the 1720s when Sir Thomas Lowther and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish were the owners. The gardens are now a beautiful setting and include several other record trees including some spectacular monkey puzzles.

The Original Bramley

This tree, the original Bramley apple tree, was grown from a pip planted by a young Mary Ann Brailsford between 1809 and 1815. The pip is thought to have come from an apple tree in her garden and grew into a fine seedling which was planted out and bore its first fruit in 1837. Twenty years later, a local nurseryman, Henry Merryweather, recognised the apple as an excellent variety and asked Mr Bramley, the then owner of the tree, for permission to take cuttings. Mr Bramley agreed but insisted that it should bear his name - hence ‘Bramley's Seedling' when it really should have been called ‘Brailsford's Seedling'!

The tree then became neglected and in about 1900 it fell over but, as it remained rooted, it continued to grow and produced new roots where the trunk touched the ground. When the current owner acquired the tree in the 1970s it was in a very neglected condition. A nurseryman, the late Claude Coates, restored it to better health.

Nottingham University recently cloned the tree and a new specimen is now growing in the garden. The original tree is still producing heavy crops of Bramley apples. There are now 500 Bramley apple growers in the country and the total UK market is worth around £50 million. Amazingly, it all began with a single pip.

Cedar of Lebanon at Childrey

The cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani), the obligatory specimen tree of the Georgian manor house, was probably first brought to Britain as seed by Dr Edward Pococke, a scholar of Arabic at Oxford University, who made several journeys to Syria in 1638/39. This tree is believed to be the oldest cedar of Lebanon in the country.

Pococke was presented with the Rectory at Childrey by Christ Church College, Oxford in 1642 and "according to unbroken tradition" he planted this tree on his rectory lawn in 1646. There is some confusion in the literature between Edward Pococke (1604-1691) and Richard Pococke (1704 - 1765). Richard is credited with "having planted cedars at Highclear (Hampshire). "However, whilst the early literature does not show that Edward planted cedars, it does show that "he planted a plane in the garden of Lady Margaret, Professor of Divinity" and "a fig at Christ Church Oxford, brought from Aleppo and planted in 1648." It is therefore most likely that Edward, who lived at Childrey and had a penchant for tree planting, did plant this tree, making it one of the few to survive the harsh winter of 1740, which destroyed most of the other cedar trees growing in Britain.

Although it has suffered from storms and snow damage in recent years, the tree is still healthy and continues to produce seedlings regularly.

The Big Belly Oak

In 1830, Strutt referred to Savernake Forest as "one of the most interesting spots in the kingdom to the lovers of wild wood scenery." The earliest mention of the forest dates from 934 AD, when King Athelstan referred to "the crofts alongside the woodland called Safernoc." With the 1066 Norman invasion Savernake became the Royal property of William the Conqueror.

The Forestry Commission now has a long-term lease on the woodland and within the old "Forest of Savernake" there are many ancient trees which are receiving special care.

Bewdley Sweet Chestnut

This astounding tree has a current girth of 33 feet 8 inches (10.2 metres) and spreads over no less than a quarter of an acre in the grounds of Kateshill House, Bewdley, Worcestershire. What makes the tree really exceptional is the spread of its branches, which have been allowed to grow unchecked. The longest branch, which stretches down the slope on which the tree grows, has an elbow which touches the ground 44 feet (13.4 metres) from the tree and reaches to its furthest extent 77 feet (23.5 metres) from the tree.

The house was once part of Tickenhall Manor, the home of Prince Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII. One version of the tree's history is that it was planted to commemorate Prince Arthur's proxy wedding with Catherine of Aragon (who later married his brother, Henry VIII). Another theory is that the tree was planted in 1567 by Sir Henry Sidney, Lord High Admiral of England, to celebrate the birth of a daughter.

Whilst this sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) has previously lived in relative obscurity, its current owners are run a bed and breakfast business at Kateshill House, so this amazing tree now gets the admiration that it deserves.