– 22 October 2014
They’re the sentinels that have stood watch over our landscape while generations of humans have come and gone.
Now the Woodland Trust is calling on Environment Minister Mark H Durkan to safeguard the most treasured of our veteran trees.
The magnificent Dark Hedges at Stranocum and a more modest mulberry in Bangor are among the trees highlighted in the Woodland Trust’s Very Important Trees campaign.
The trust has joined forces with Country Living magazine in calling for politicians to back a national register of the country’s most beloved trees.
Forty magnificent specimens, including the Dark Hedges, the oaks of Boom Hall and the Crom Yews of Fermanagh, have been listed in a bid to identify and safeguard these living monuments.
Jill Butler, ancient tree specialist for the Woodland Trust, says: “Northern Ireland has its share of ancient and culturally important trees, with over 5,000 registered on the trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt website. And I’m quite certain that, just like elsewhere in the UK, there are many more that we simply don’t know of.
“Our oldest trees have seen centuries come and go, witnessed historic events and are home to many species of wildlife, some rare and vulnerable. These natural living monuments are the equivalent of listed buildings, yet have no automatic form of protection.
“A national register in each country of the UK would locate and list these trees, and help owners recognise their importance. It would be an important step in securing their future. The hope is that developers would consult the register when preparing planning applications.”
The 40 revered trees – handpicked because of their age, landscape value or historical association – are just a sample representing thousands of gems throughout the UK.
Northern Ireland’s arboreal representatives include the Dark Hedges, a spectacular avenue of beech trees near Ballymoney, which featured in TV series Game of Thrones; the famous Crom Yews of Fermanagh; oaks at Boom Hall Estate in Londonderry; and one elegant mulberry at Castle Park in Bangor.
The trust has also highlighted the magnificent oaks at Belvoir Park Forest in Belfast. One oak – gnarled, hollow and alive with insects and fungi – is more than 500 years old and is thought to be Northern Ireland’s oldest tree.
To find out more about the V.I. Trees campaign and ask Environment Minister Mark H Durkan to support a register of Northern Ireland’s remarkable trees, visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/vitrees.
Factfile
Oak trees were held in high esteem by the Ancient Irish and regarded as the ‘noble trees of the wood’. The oak was even considered sacred by the Druids, with the name ‘Druid’ supposedly meaning ‘the keeper of the oak tree’. Fifteen hundred years ago, the fine for felling a ‘noble’ tree without permission was ‘two milch cows’.
The mulberry tree at Castle Park, Co Down
Known as ‘Her Ladyship’s Tree’, this well-loved mulberry was reputedly grown for its leaves, which are the food plant for silk worms. Apparently, the lady of the house, one of the Hamilton family who lived in Bangor Castle, wanted to spin silk and needed mulberry leaves for her silk worms. The manor house on the site was completed in 1852 for the Honorable Robert Edward Ward. This mulberry tree has recently been offered some protection thanks to a Tree Preservation Order. However, the tree’s future is not guaranteed as the site — a former leisure centre — is due to be redeveloped. The Woodland Trust says it will strive to ensure that any development plans will recognise the importance of this tree.
Oak at Boom Hall Estate, Co Londonderry
This oak is one of many veteran trees to be found at the Boom Hall Estate, near the Foyle Bridge in Londonderry. The tree has a girth of over six metres and is estimated to be more than 250 years old. It is one of around 20 trees recorded so far on this site. Peter Archdale, who came across and subsequently recorded oaks and chestnuts at Boom Hall, says: “I was driving over the Foyle Bridge when I happened to catch sight of these wonderful old trees.”
The land known as Gunsland, on which Boom Hall was built, is reputed to be the ghostly visiting place of a Captain Browning. When a mist descends, there have been sightings of a tall figure, which is said to have an almost transparent form.
Oaks at Belvoir Park Forest, Belfast
Belvoir Park Forest in south Belfast is home to a significant number of veteran trees, suggesting that the estate managed to escape the timber demand of the 18th and 19th centuries. One champion oak, estimated to be over 500 years old, could be the oldest tree in Northern Ireland. This ancient specimen has a completely hollow trunk and a giant girth of 26 feet (8 metres). In 2013, a rare bracket fungus called oak polypore was discovered, for the first time ever in Northern Ireland, on this tree.
Another oak is estimated to be at least 300 years old, with a girth of over 28 feet (8.5 metres). Huge, low-growing branches make this tree very distinctive – and popular with children.
Around 6,500 larch trees had to be felled earlier this year at Belvoir Park as a result of a disease called Phytophthora ramorum.
The Crom Yews, Crom Castle, Co Fermanagh
This huge tree at Crom Estate, a National Trust property, is in fact two yews, situated just a few steps apart. The yews — one male and one female — have grown to give the appearance of a single tree.
The Crom Yews can be found close to the ruins of the old Crom Castle which they pre-date by hundreds of years.
The trees are actually marked on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map. It is unusual for an individual tree to be identified in this way.
The Dark Hedges, Co Antrim
The Dark Hedges are two rows of spectacular beech trees, lining both sides of a beautiful country road at Stranocum, near Ballymoney, County Antrim. It is a popular route for tourists making their way to the scenic Antrim coast. The avenue of beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century, intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their home, Gracehill House, which was situated nearby. The famous trees, which date back more than 200 years, have up until now been owned by three local farmers. However, they are now being cared for by the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust.
