Veterans

Britain has a remarkable heritage of ancient or veteran trees. These were not necessarily part of ancient woodland.

The ancient or veteran tree represents an historical record of the landscape it is in. It might indicate if it was part of an ancient deer park or was regularly pollarded.

A veteran tree is usually old, having survived longer than other trees of the same species. Its growth rate is normally decreasing year by year although this veteran stage can be the longest period in the life of some species.

As well as being important land marks or historical sites, Veteran Trees may have a variety of rare wildlife associated with them.

More: The Ancient Tree Forum has a specialist section on the Woodland Trust website.

The Ancient Yew Group has a new website at www.ancient-yew.org

Various books highlight ancient trees. A particularly good one is "Tree Heritage of Britain and Ireland" by Andrew Morton, from Swan Hill Press.