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An ancient tree is one that is in the final stage of its life and is exceptionally old for its species. Such trees typically have a wide girth and a hollow trunk with decaying wood, holes, and cavities that provide crucial habitats for thousands of species, including 25% of England’s priority conservation (‘Red Book’) species. The late Oliver Rackham – who regarded trees and woods as living archaeological artefacts, revealing much about historical landscape management practices – stated that ‘a single oak 400 years old is a series of ecosystems in itself, for which a hundred 200-year-old oaks are no substitute.’
Britain is thought to have the greatest number of ancient trees in northern Europe, and the Ancient Tree Forum (ATF), in common with other campaigners for these irreplaceable ecosystems, believes that they should be listed, like historic buildings and ancient monuments.
Lacking formal legal protection, they are vulnerable to vandalism (the fate of the Hadrian’s Wall Sycamore Gap tree), development pressures, and felling in the mistaken belief that such trees represent a health and safety hazard – as in the case of the 500-year-old ancient oak beside a Toby Carvery in Enfield, cut down in April 2025.
A subsequent report into the Enfield tree showed that it was healthy, posed no danger, and had centuries left to live. Trees like this must have been a familiar sight to our prehistoric ancestors, and Seahenge, the 4,000-year-old Bronze Age timber circle discovered in 1998 on north Norfolk’s Holme Beach (CA 167), suggests that old trees and tree throws had some kind of symbolic value.
The ATF aims to tackle ignorance and poor management by training professionals and volunteers in caring for ancient and veteran trees. It offers technical advice, undertakes research, and coordinates regional and national field meetings, where people can learn about the value, protection, management, ecology, heritage, and cultural importance of our oldest trees.
Trees long outlive humans, so the ATF’s ‘Experts of the Future’ initiative provides young people with the opportunity to train for VET certification, a pan-European scheme designed to ensure a succession of veteran tree specialists in the decades to come. Together with the Woodland Trust, the ATF maintains the Ancient Tree Inventory, with more than 190,000 trees recorded to-date. Anyone can contribute, and new discoveries are being made all the time.
Further information:
Ancient Tree Forum: www.ancienttreeforum.org.uk
Ancient Tree Inventory: https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.ukIs there a society that you would like to see profiled? Write to theeditor@archaeology.co.uk
