Welcome to the website of the Worcestershire Ancient Tree Project


Current records in Worcestershire
Recording forms 
Sending in ancient tree records 
What happens to my records?
Ancient tree ecology and management

The project has been running since 2000 and received a big boost in July 2007 with a two-year grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The grant was given to the Worcestershire Recorders to take forward the work begun by John Tilt and Harry Green in developing a Worcestershire Register of Ancient Trees. The Worcestershire Biological Records Centre now hosts the Register. Although the Heritage Lottery funding has ended the Worcestershire Recorders and Worcestershire Biological Records Centre would very much like you to carry on recording!

Why are ancient trees interesting?
Ancient trees are of huge value historically and culturally because of the link they provide between the communities living in the county today and the people and forces that have shaped the landscape over many hundreds of years. They also support a wealth of wildlife in the decaying wood and cavities within the tree – from birds, bats and fungi to many species of insect.

Worcestershire is a county rich in ancient trees, for reasons including our Royal Forest heritage and the presence of a swathe of ‘ancient countryside’ across the western and northern half of the county. 

How do I recognise an ancient tree?
Trees we are interested in are:
· Those that have reached a significant age and size compared to others of the same species 
· Those that show ‘veteran features’ such as decaying heartwood, hollowing, loose bark, stag heading, cracks and cavities

What is the project trying to do?
We currently have just over 3000 trees on the Register but there are many more to be found, with trees remaining undiscovered in hedgerows and hidden field corners. The project aims to fill in these gaps by training and supporting local people to survey and record the ancient trees within their parish. 

Through the project we hope to raise awareness of how important these trees are to our landscape and its wildlife and to try and ensure that both the current and next generation of ancient trees are well managed and protected from damage.

The Googlemaps show the trees on a background map, which may make it easier for you to search your area.

Please remember that many of these trees are on private land and have been visited and surveyed with the permission of the landowner. Appearing on our database does not mean that the tree is publicly accessible – please respect this.

Click here to find the Excel spreadsheet of current records 

The increase in numbers of the Ancient Tree records have made it more difficult to combine them all into one mapping program. Consequently, we are trying out a split into four areas, with lines through Worcester providing the approximate dividers. Records near dividing lines are repeated in both sections. This should result in faster loading and response times.

NW quadrant NE quadrant
SW quadrant SE quadrant

There are now pages for the Top 100 and for 'Grow with Wyre'

Guidance on recording
Tree recording is best done between November and April when leaves are off the tree or still very small. When trees are in full leaf it is difficult to see their structure clearly and any photographs you take will simply be a trunk and mass of green above.

Please use this recording form to send us your records

This document will guide you in working out grid references

This guidance sheet will explain the different parts of the recording form and the different terms used to describe your tree

Identifying trees from leaves

Identifying trees from twigs and buds

Sending in records
Wherever possible we would like to receive records electronically. The recording form is available as an excel spreadsheet above. This can be emailed to records@wbrc.org.uk 

If you would prefer to print off a copy of the form then please return it to:

Worcestershire Biological Records Centre
Lower Smite Farm
Smite Hill
Hindlip
Worcs
WR3 8SZ

We would encourage you to take a full-length photograph of each tree you record. If these are digital images you can either put them on a CD and post them or email them along with the corresponding forms (file sizes of around 100KB are ideal). If the photos are prints then post these to us and we can scan them to create a digital file (or you could do this yourself if you have access to the right facilities). NB please do not insert images into the excel spreadsheet – it is very time consuming to extract them again! Send images as individual files.

Please give the photograph and the corresponding recording form the same unique reference number (your name and a sequential number is usually best e.g. Smith001, Smith002 etc) so we can easily match up the form with the correct photo.

What happens to my records?
The records collected through the project will be kept at Worcestershire Biological Records Centre and shared with the county Historic Environment and Archaeology Service. 

The Woodland Trust is the lead partner for a national project called the Ancient Tree Hunt that is collecting ancient tree records from all over the UK. Our Worcestershire trees are being incorporated into this project too.

The Woodland Trust and other organisations are campaigning nationally for greater recognition of the importance of our ancient trees and for them to receive better protection. Mapping and documenting each tree is essential to achieve this. In addition, we will also be able to justify campaigning for greater financial resources to continue raising awareness and our knowledge of how best to look after them.

Ancient tree ecology and management
The following documents have been produced by a variety of organisations and cover many topics associated with old trees.

Protecting trees on farmland:
Trees and Farming
Protecting hedgerow trees 

Protecting trees within the planning system:
Trees and Development
Protecting our ancestors legacy for the generations of the future
A planner’s guide to ancient woods and trees in England

Aging trees:
Estimating age of oak trees
John White research paper on ageing oaks trees

General publications:
What are ancient, veteran and other trees of special interest?
The conservation and restoration of PAWS
Why the UK’s ancient woodland is still under threat

Links to other organisations
www.woodland-trust.org.uk
www.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum
www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk
www.treecouncil.org.uk