Worcestershire Record No. 16 April 2004 p. 13

WORCESTERSHIRE ANCIENT TREE RECORDING

John Tilt
Keeper of the Worcestershire Ancient Tree Register

The Database has been active since October 2001- just over two years, and in that time we have recorded 625 trees. The Table below summarises the records.

Many thanks to the 27 recorders who have contributed to the database.

Species  Average of Girth  (m)  Maximum Girth (m)   Number of Trees 
Ash 4.20 6.03 53
Beech 4.47 6.00 16
Black Poplar 3.86 6.50 16
Common Lime 3.52 4.76 8
Crab Apple 2.10 2.10 1
Field Maple 2.32 3.25 4
Hawthorn 2.40 3.75 4
Hornbeam 3.58 5.00 5
Horse Chestnut 3.70 4.65 8
Large-leaved Lime  3.00 3.00 1
London Plane 6.40 6.40 1
Pedunculate Oak 4.75 10.90 392
Sessile Oak 5.22 8.10 10
Small-leaved Lime 4.62 7.30 15
Sweet Chestnut 4.93 9.60 32
Turkey Oak 4.31 5.05 5
Yew 6.00 6.00 1
Common Alder 4.90 4.90 1
Lucombe Oak 4.60 4.60 1
Holm Oak 4.40 4.40 1
Grey Poplar 3.80 3.80 1
Scarlet Oak 3.60 3.60 1
Pear 2.90 2.90 1
Walnut 2.10 2.10 1
Sycamore 1.70 1.70 1
Acer spp. 1.45 1.45 1
No girth recorded     44
Grand Total 4.58 10.90 625

There are still large areas of the county unrecorded - see the distribution of the sites in the map below.
[If the map is not visible, it may be that your browser does not support PNG graphics, which are used to get this map file down to a usable size]

 

We are also recording some of the animals and plants associated with the trees. Currently Joy Ricketts has recorded over 1200 lichens on the ancient trees - 97 different species.

The current largest tree is the Temple Oak at Broughton Green near Hanbury with a girth of nearly 11 metres.

Worcestershire’s biggest trees (so far) are:
(The girth is measured at chest height)

Girth (m) Site Species
7.50 OLD HILLS MALVERN Oak
7.50 WITLEY COURT Oak
7.60 WITLEY COURT Oak
7.70 ELMLEY DEER PARK Oak
7.80 GLENBERROW Oak
7.80 BROAD COMMON Oak
7.80 TRIMPLEY Oak
7.90 FORTHAMPTON ESTATE Oak
7.95 COURT ESTATE, LITTLE MALVERN Oak
8.10 MAWLEY OAK Oak
8.80 ELMLEY DEER PARK Oak
8.80 MITRE OAK Oak
9.00 CROOME Oak
9.60 KATES HILL Sweet Chestnut
10.90 TEMPLE OAK, BROUGHTON GREEN Oak

Are there any large ancient trees in your area? Please send us your records. If you would like to search and record trees in a 10km square (or another area) I will list all the trees already recorded in that area to avoid you duplicating effort. Please contact Harry Green or John Tilt if you would like to help.

John Tilt 01386 792458 or john.tilt2@btopenworld.com, Harry Green 013386 710377 or zen130501@zen.co.uk

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