In a churchyard in Fortingall, Scotland, there is a yew tree that was already old when Julius Caesar arrived in Britain. Its age is estimated at between two thousand and five thousand years, making it potentially the oldest living thing in Europe. It has survived ice ages, invasions, plagues and revolutions. It stands now, hollow-trunked and magnificently gnarled, in a village of a few hundred people, protected by a low wall that was erected in the nineteenth century to stop people taking cuttings.
Britain has more ancient and veteran trees than any other country in northern Europe — possibly more than the whole of the rest of the continent combined. This is partly because of Britain's temperate climate, partly because of the cultural practices of managed wood-pasture and parkland that created ideal conditions for trees to grow old, and partly because of the relative absence of the devastating forestry clearances that stripped much of continental Europe in the twentieth century. We have inherited a living heritage of extraordinary richness. We are not doing nearly enough to protect it.
What Makes a Tree Ancient?
Ancient trees are not simply old trees. They are trees that have entered a distinct biological phase — typically when they are past their vigorous growth stage — characterised by a slowing of growth, the development of deadwood, hollow trunks, loose bark, and a dramatically increased ecological value. An ancient oak may be just two to four metres in girth, smaller than many mature oaks, but it will be harbouring hundreds of species that depend on its particular qualities: the fungi in its rotting wood, the beetles in its deadwood, the bats in its hollow, the lichen on its bark.
"An ancient tree is not an old tree that has survived. It is an ecosystem that has had time to become irreplaceable."
The Ecology of Ancientness
Ancient and veteran trees support biodiversity that simply cannot be found elsewhere. Species like the lesser stag beetle, the noble chafer beetle, and the beefsteak fungus are highly specialised — dependent on very specific conditions of decay, moisture and microhabitat that take centuries to develop and cannot be recreated artificially. When an ancient tree is lost, the species that depend on it may have nowhere else to go.
The Wood Wide Web — the network of mycorrhizal fungi that connect trees underground, enabling them to share nutrients and chemical signals — is particularly well-developed around ancient trees. These trees are hubs of the underground network, nodes through which the entire woodland system is connected. Their loss disrupts the network in ways that affect every other tree and plant in the vicinity.
The Threats They Face
Ancient trees face threats that range from development pressure and road widening to agricultural "tidiness," tree disease and climate change. In Britain, planning law offers some protection for trees in Conservation Areas and for trees with Tree Preservation Orders. But tens of thousands of ancient and veteran trees have no formal protection at all, and are lost every year to development, disease or simple neglect.
The Ancient Tree Forum estimates that Britain has around 170,000 veteran and ancient trees — a remarkable number, but a fraction of what existed two centuries ago. Many of those that remain are isolated: standing alone in fields or hedgerows, cut off from the networks of old woodland that would have sustained them. Isolated trees are more vulnerable to stress and disease, and their genetic legacy dies with them.
What Is Being Done?
The Ancient Tree Inventory, maintained by the Woodland Trust and its partners, is the world's largest database of notable trees, with over 200,000 records in the UK. Volunteers travel the country to record and document remarkable trees — their location, species, girth and condition. The database provides the evidence base for protection and management decisions, and for making the case that these trees have irreplaceable value.
The Woodland Trust and other conservation organisations are also working to create "stepping stones" of habitat between ancient trees — connecting isolated veterans through corridors of new woodland, hedgerow and wood-pasture that will allow species to move between them. This is slow work — it takes centuries for trees to become genuinely ancient — but it is the only way to ensure that Britain's extraordinary inheritance of ancient trees is not merely preserved but allowed to renew itself.