Scotland's ancient trees catalogued for first time

Quite how old, isn’t known: the heartwood in the centre of the original tree which could reveal its true age by counting its growth rings has long since decayed.

Still, it’s believed its tangled network of roots has drawn nutrients from the Perthshire earth since Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Gaza were being built – estimated to be at least 2,000 years old, some say it is closer to 5,000. A few even go so far as to suggest it could be 9,000 years old.

While it is by far the oldest – and arguably most famous – tree in the land, a determined effort by a small army of ‘tree hunters’ to catalogue Scotland’s ancient and veteran trees has now revealed far more aged specimens than once thought.

And, with new rules being proposed that would protect rare habitats and individual ancient or veteran trees, the challenge is now on to find and record even more.

Details emerged last week of a proposed policy tabled in the Scottish Parliament that would bar developments which might destroy or damage ancient woodlands, individual ancient or veteran trees or have an adverse impact on their ecological condition.

Previous drafts of the planning rules stated such woodland “should not” be lost to development. The new wording goes further, and states such developments “will not” be supported.

That small change in wording has sparked hopes that once implemented irreplaceable ancient and veteran trees will be protected.

Woodland Trust Scotland policy advocate Suzie Saunders said: “Precision of language means everything in policy like this. The switch from “should not” to “will not” could be the most important change in ancient woodland protection for years.”

Once implemented, it is likely to guide planning procedure at Scottish local authorities for decades to come. Unlike archaeological and historic built sites, the UK’s ancient trees – such as the Windsor Park specimen which King Charles III was photographed leaning again in his birthday portrait this week - have no automatic right of protection and no equivalent to the Scheduled Ancient Monument status.

The famous Fortingall Yew, in the churchyard of Fortingall Church, is said to highlight the disparity: although the wall that surrounds the ancient tree is protected by law, the tree itself, is not.

The change in policy means the race is now on to capture details of as many of Scotland’s ancient and veteran trees as possible.

The process of recording Scotland’s living heritage began in January 2006, when the Woodland Trust launched its Ancient Tree Inventory as the Heritage Lottery-funded Ancient Tree Hunt, amid concerns that unlike built historic structures, trees have no automatic legal right to protection.

And despite standing as silent witnesses to centuries of history, embedded into their landscape for generations and important havens for wildlife, it was feared some of the country’s oldest trees were also among the most vulnerable.

Using 19th century maps to locate old trees and armed with tape measures to record their girth, an estimated 400 individual tree hunters trudged across the country, detailing the location of each tree of note they found, and uploading its details and vital statistics to the charity.

Once confirmed, the tree and its location were uploaded to an online map – giving everyone the chance to pay their respects at Scotland’s oldest forms of life.

The first tree recorded in Scotland was an ancient sweet chestnut at Roslin Chapel, Midlothian, noted in 2006 to have a girth of 8.04m.

By 2015, the intrepid tree spotters had found around 12,000 ancient and veteran trees at locations from the northern tip of Scotland, to the heart of the Borders.

In 2018, another ancient sweet chestnut – a species said to be a favourite of Mary Queen of Scots - was identified at Murthly Castle in Perthshire, making it the 15,000th Scottish tree to be recorded.

Now it’s emerged that number has soared again – at last count there were 16,160 ancient and aged trees.

They include 1,829 trees classed as ‘ancient’, 8,132 ‘veteran’ trees and a further 6,200 designated as ‘notable’.

The most commonly recorded trees in Scotland are oak, Scots pine and beech.

However, those findings may still just be scratching the surface of Scotland’s ancient and veteran trees: a recent study carried out in England revealed there could be more than 2 million ancient and veteran trees there – far more than had been previously recorded.

The study by University of Nottingham used the Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory to create a number of different mathematical models to predict where notable trees might be.

Taking data such as distance from cities, roads and population density along with environment factors, it highlighted locations where ancient woodland existed but had not been fully recorded.

Volunteers then visited random locations on the map, and found inaccessible places contained 100% more trees than had been previously recorded – raising the prospect of far more ancient trees than had been thought.

Although the mapping survey did not extend to Scotland, there are hopes that a similar exercise could result in even more discoveries here.

Woodland Trust spokesman George Anderson said “Ancient trees are as much a part of our heritage as stately homes, cathedrals and works of art, but they don’t get the same protection.

“Identifying where ancient trees are takes us one step closer to giving them the care and protection they need.

“The UK’s ancient trees have no automatic right of protection. There is no equivalent to Scheduled Ancient Monument status which important archaeological sites have.

“The famous Fortingall Yew highlights the disparity. The wall around the tree attracts formal legal protection rather than the tree itself.”

Tie piece Treespotting: Scotland’s top ancient trees The Fortingall Yew, Fortingall, Perthshire: Legend has it that Pontius Pilate played beneath its branches. Its multiple trunks measured 52ft in 1769, now split into several stems, and appears as a number of individual trees.

The King Tree or Hanging Tree in Dunipace near Falkirk: A sweet chestnut – said to be a particularly favourite species of Mary Queen of Scots – it is thought to be up to 400 years old. When attacked by fungus, locals treated it and then filled the trunk with concrete to keep it alive. The Last Ent of Affric: An ancient elm in Glen Affric, it is thought to be the last surviving tree of an ancient forest. Its girth of 3.8m suggests it is many centuries old.

The Beauly Elm, Inverness-shire: An ancient Wych (Scots) Elm found at the entrance to 13th century Beauly Priory in Inverness-shire. Thought to be at least 800 years old and the oldest elm tree in Europe, it is battling Dutch elm disease, so just 5% of it is left alive.

The Capon Oak, Jedburgh: A hollow English oak that is one of the last remnants of the ancient Borders’ Jed Forest. Estimated at around 1,000 years old, it is said to have sheltered Jedburgh Abbey monks under its branches.

The Great Yew of Ormiston, East Lothian: Tucked away in a private estate close to the ruins of Ormiston Hall in East Lothian, it features in an 1824 poem by James Miller, and was first mentioned in texts dating from 1474 Glen Lyon Ash, Perthshire: One of the largest and oldest of its kind in Scotland, found near the village of Fortingall and the famous yew tree. Its girth measures 6.4 metres and it is estimated to be between 300 and 400 years old – exceptionally old for an ash tree.