List of superlative trees in the United Kingdom

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Below is a list of superlative trees in the United Kingdom, containing the widest trees, the widest trees in history, the oldest trees and the tallest trees.

Widest[edit]

Marton Oak, currently the widest tree in the UK. 14.02-14.4m circumference
Bowthorpe Oak, 13.33m in circumference

Presently, a regularly-updated database of the UK's widest trees by girth is kept by the user-run website Monumental Trees.[1] Width is not indicative of tree volume, however. The largest oak tree, as well as the tallest, in the UK has long been believed to be the Majesty Oak in Kent,[2][3] however its 12.2m girth is exceeded by multiple trees in the UK. Similarly, the Major Oak from Sherwood Forest, another huge oak tree in the UK, also does not make the list.[4]

List of widest trees in the UK
Tree name Species Girth Location References and notes
Meters Feet
Marton Oak Sessile oak (Quercus petraea) 14.02–14.4 46.0–47.2 Marton, Cheshire The Marton Oak is the current UK champion for girth,[5] although is not very well known and is at the end stage of its life. The tree split into three enormous pieces centuries ago, but is still considered to be a single tree. The tree grows in a private garden in the village Marton, Cheshire. The tree is believed to be 1200 years old.[6][7]
Canford School Chestnut Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) 14 46 Wimborne Minster, Dorset The Canford School chestnut is a non-native superlative tree growing on the grounds of Canford School near Bournemouth.[8] The tree is very difficult to measure accurately due to the presence of multiple offshoots, and has sustained significant damage in the past.
Bowthorpe Oak English oak (English oak) 13.33 43.7 Bourne, Lincolnshire This famous tree is often mistakenly considered the widest tree in the UK. Estimates of its age vary wildly from 600 years to 1300 years. The website Monumental Trees gives its age as 823 years with an accuracy of 200 years. The tree sustained serious damage in 2021 when a significant part of the upper trunk collapsed. Its girth has been widening at an increasing rate.[9][10]
Queen Elizabeth Oak Sessile oak (Quercus petraea) 13.18 43.2 Cowdray Park, Sussex One of the most famous trees in the UK, it is said that Queen Elizabeth visited this tree in 1591 when hunting. This tree is almost entirely hollow and it has rapidly increased in girth in recent years. Estimates of its age vary from 600 to 1000 years[11]

Historically the widest[edit]

Many of the UK's former largest trees have fallen victim to age, weather, or arson. Some of them have fallen apart into distinctly multiple trunks. This list also considers multi-stemmed trees.

List of former widest trees in the UK
Tree name Species Girth Location References and notes
Meters Feet
Cowthorpe Oak Oak (Quercus) 18 59 Cowthorpe, Yorkshire The Cowthorpe Oak is believed to have been the widest and largest tree to have ever existed in the UK. At its prime, its massive crown was said to cover an area of half an acre, and its enormous trunk measured 18m in girth at ground level, and 16m at a height of 1.8 meters above ground. During the 18th century, the tree declined in health and began to deteriorate. It finally fell in the 1950s after being struck by lightning.[12][13][14]
Newland Oak English oak (Quercus robur) 18 59 Newland, Gloucestershire A massive oak tree considered a rival to the size and girth of the Cowthorpe Oak, the Newland Oak was reported to have a girth of 18 meters in the 19th century. It then declined precipitously, and its girth rapidly declined as the tree began to decay. In 1950, the oak was surpassed by the Marton Oak as the widest single-trunk tree in the UK after its girth was measured at 13.72 meters. The tree fell after heavy snowfall in 1955 and a surviving branch was destroyed in an arson attack in 1970.[15][16][17]
Fortingall Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) 17 56 Fortingall, Perthshire The is the UK's oldest tree, and also was once one of the largest. Its girth was measured centuries ago as 17 meters. However, the tree due to its great age has now split, and now comprises a few distinctly separate stems which when taken together have a girth of 15 meters.[18]

Oldest[edit]

The ancient 4000+ year old yew tree at Llangernyw
Certificate signed by Professor David Bellamy establishing the Llangernyw Yew's age
The 2500 year old Ankerwycke Yew

Several trees in the UK, all of them European yews, are thousands of years old, and one of them has been reported as 5000 years old or more, which would mean a tree older than Methuselah(tree) in California, the current official record holder for the oldest non-cloning tree in the world. The UK also has a great share of ancient oak trees, many of which are believed to be over a thousand years old. The oldest is King Offa's Oak from Windsor Great Park at 1300–1500 years old.[19]

List of oldest trees in the UK
Tree name Species Age and location References and notes
Fortingall Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) 5000 Fortingall, Perthshire The Fortingall Yew has long been considered the oldest tree in the UK due to its former enormous size and the slow-growing nature of yews. Previous 19th-century estimates had the tree at 2,000-3,000 years old,[20] although more recent estimates establish a minimum age of 5,000 years for the tree.[21] Such an age would make it a contender for the oldest non-cloning tree in the world. Dating yews is notoriously difficult due to the absence of heartwood, which for the Fortingall Yew has long decayed, forcing researchers to rely on other methods.
Llangernyw Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) 4000-5000 Llangernyw, Wales The Llangernyw Yew has long been considered one of the oldest trees in the world. The yew was investigated by David Bellamy and the Yew Tree Campaign, who concluded that, using "all available data", the yew is from 4,000 to 5,000 years old[22]
Tisbury Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) 4000 Tisbury, Wiltshire The Tisbury Yew is an extremely old tree in Wiltshire which was radiocarbon dated by David Bellamy, who established the tree's age as around 4,000 years.[23] The tree has been filled with cement in the past.
Ashbrittle Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) >3000 Ashbrittle, Somerset The Ashbrittle Yew is an ancient yew growing over an ancient tumulus in the churchyard at Ashbrittle. This tree was mature when Stonehenge was in use.[24]
Ankerwycke Yew European Yew (Taxus baccata) 2273±300 Wraysbury, Berkshire An ancient yew which is located next to the ruins of a 12th-century priory.It was alive during the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. It was said that Henry VIII met and courted Anne Boleyn under the yew.[25][26]

Tallest[edit]

The tallest tree in the UK is a non-native Douglas fir in Scotland with a height of 66.4 meters- significantly taller than the UK's tallest native tree- a 45 meter tall European Beech growing at the River Derwent in Derbyshire.[27]

List of tallest trees in the UK
Tree name Species Height Location References and notes
Meters Feet
Reelig Glen Fir Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) 66.3 218 Reelig Glen, Highland The UK's tallest tree was planted in the 19th century within the glen. Currently, multiple trees in that area exceed 55 meters and a few are over 60 meters in height due to prime growing conditions. The height was measured using a laser and subsequently confirmed during a climb. This tree is also additionally the tallest tree anywhere in Europe.[28]
Dughall Mor Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) 63.8 209 Reelig Glen, Highland Commonly cited as the UK's tallest tree, it was planted along with even taller trees nearby during 1882.[29]
Cragside House Fir Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) 61.5 202 Cragside House, Northumberland This is the tallest tree in England and has a girth exceeding 5 meters, which has been rapidly increasing in size. It was reported that the tree lost its original top in 2016.[30]
Center Parcs Sequoia Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) 58 190 Longleat Forest, Wiltshire This is the tallest Giant Sequoia in the UK, with a girth of 5.6 meters. Two other trees in the immediate vicinity, both giant sequoias, are 57 meters high. The trees were measured using a forestry laser.[31]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The thickest, tallest, and oldest trees in the United Kingdom". www.monumentaltrees.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  2. ^ "The Trees of Fredville Park".
  3. ^ "Fredville Park, Nonington - Nonington". 31 December 1749.
  4. ^ "The Major Oak - Sherwood Forest". 22 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Tree - Ancient Tree Inventory".
  6. ^ "Ancient Tree Column: The Marton Oak, Cheshire" (PDF).
  7. ^ http://www.ancienttreeforum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Marton-Oak-for-March-2017.pdf
  8. ^ "Tree - Ancient Tree Inventory".
  9. ^ "The Tree | bowthorpeparkfarm". Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  10. ^ "Tree - Ancient Tree Inventory". ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  11. ^ "Queen Elizabeth I Oak - Remarkable British Trees". 20 October 2023.
  12. ^ "The Cowthorpe Oak Yorkshire [archived]". Archived from the original on 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2023-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "Under England's famous old oak tree: John Clayton's account of the…". The Linnean Society. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  14. ^ "Tree - Ancient Tree Inventory". ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  15. ^ "Pedunculate Oak 'Newland Oak' west of Newland in Newland, England, United Kingdom". www.monumentaltrees.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  16. ^ Timbs, John (1839). The Literary world, conducted by J. Timbs.
  17. ^ "Newland's big oak". Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  18. ^ "Fortingall". Scotland's Yew Tree Heritage Initiative. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  19. ^ "Oak processionary moth strikes at the 'heart of English oak'". Forestry Journal. 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  20. ^ "Fortingall". Scotland's Yew Tree Heritage Initiative. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  21. ^ "Yew". Forestry and Land Scotland. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  22. ^ "Tree - Ancient Tree Inventory". ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  23. ^ "The ancient yew tree | St Johns Tisbury". www.tisburyparishchurch.org. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  24. ^ "Ash Brittle" (PDF). Ancient Yew.
  25. ^ "Runnymede and Ankerwycke | Surrey". National Trust. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  26. ^ "European Yew 'Ankerwycke Yew' west of Hythe End Road, Wraysbury, England, United Kingdom". www.monumentaltrees.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  27. ^ "European beech | Kew". www.kew.org. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  28. ^ "Record breaking tall trees in the UK". www.outdoorlook.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  29. ^ "Reelig Glen - Forestry and Land Scotland". forestryandland.gov.scot. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  30. ^ "Common Douglas-fir on the grounds of Cragside House, Rothbury, England, United Kingdom". www.monumentaltrees.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  31. ^ "Center Parcs home to UK's tallest Giant Redwood". Center Parcs. 2017-07-05.
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