Eamonn gives celebrity backing to charity's ancient tree hunt
Ancient armies depended upon their fruit and it is thought that the Romans brought them to the British Isles. Yet despite its history, the long-lived sweet chestnut tree is poorly represented on the only database of the UK’s oldest trees.
The Woodland Trust is urging people to record examples of this magnificent species, which grows so fast it often outstrips the stature and girth of older oaks.
Regarded as an ‘honorary native’ introduced by the Romans to provide a ready supply of chestnut flour for the legionaries, the sweet chestnut originates from southern Europe, western Asia and north Africa. It was often referred to as the “bread tree”, providing a staple - and storable - carbohydrate to many Mediterranean diets.
Spectacular, centuries-old specimens of enormous size can still be found in the UK and throughout central, western and southern Europe.
Edward Parker, the Ancient Tree Hunt project manager at the Woodland Trust, said: "The sweet chestnut has so many important historical associations. These trees also boast some of the biggest girths in the UK, yet the Ancient Tree Hunt has just over 3,000 records for the species, while oak accounts for nearly half of all the 73,000 trees on the database. We know there will be many more out there, so we are urging people to help us gain more data.”
Belfast-born presenter Eamonn Holmes has visited some of Belfast’s oldest chestnut trees. The sweet chestnuts, planted around 1620, are just off the Malone Road, Belfast – in the grounds of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (Inst). One of the magnificent trees has a girth of over seven metres.
Eamonn said: “The Woodland Trust is appealing for more people in Northern Ireland to join its Ancient Tree Hunt and help put our oldest trees on the map. These trees are an important part of the landscape, rich in both history and wildlife, yet often lacking the recognition they deserve.
“Autumn’s the perfect time of the year to wrap-up and get out and about, and sweet chestnut is a great species to search for. It’s easily recognisable by its deeply grooved bark and, at this time of the year, by its much-loved edible nuts, popular in many autumn or Christmas dishes.”
Probably the best-known and the oldest sweet chestnut in the UK is the Tortworth Chestnut, in Gloucestershire. Although only part of it remains today, many of the branches of its huge twisted trunk have rooted to become trees themselves, giving the appearance of a small wood. Written records of this tree go back to the reign of King Stephen in the 12th century, when sweet chestnuts were commonly planted in southern England for their nuts and timber.
And reputed to be the stoutest tree ever recorded is the so-called 'Tree of One Hundred Horses’, a sweet chestnut still growing in Sicily. This remarkable giant measured an astonishing 68 metres in girth in 1770 and is thought to be between 2 and 4,000 years old. It is still producing nuts which supply a local restaurant.
Today, sweet chestnuts are still grown commercially in the UK, especially in Kent and Sussex, but only for their timber. Meanwhile, in Italy, France and Spain many varieties of sweet chestnut are still cultivated for their nuts.
To find out more and get recording, visit www.AncientTreeHunt.org.uk
Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
Kaye Coates at the Woodland Trust’s Bangor Office on 028 9127 5787; email kayecoates@woodlandtrust.org.uk or
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121; email media@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
Here in Northern Ireland the Woodland Trust cares for 51 woods. These woods contain a mix of recently planted woodland, mature woodland and ancient woodland (that’s land continuously wooded since at least 1600). We have recently produced the first-ever comprehensive record of Northern Ireland’s ancient woodland; find out more at www.backonthemap.org.uk