Hiding in Plain Sight

An Ancient Oak at Claremont Farm

Earlier this year Hilary Ash, Honorary Conservation Officer for Wirral Wildlife, took a closer look at an oak tree she had seen many times before at Claremont Farm.

Realisation dawned that it was actually a very old oak tree that would be classified as ‘ancient’ - followed by surprise that she hadn’t spotted it sooner!

This tree had been pollarded - this involves removing the top of the tree by regular cutting of upper branches back to the main trunk during the dormant season, generally late September to early March. The purpose of traditional pollarding was to encourage several new side and top shoots from the main trunk, so firewood and other coppice products were readily available year on year at a manageable height.

This results in a very large trunk and the girth of this tree is 6.14m, suggesting it may be 400 - 500 years old.

It has astonishing ecological value too, supporting thousands of species in its nooks and crannies. There are several interesting holes in the upper branches, one of which has blue tits nesting.

Since its ‘discovery’ it has been given some care by Wirral Countryside Volunteers. Young ash were growing up through its crown, many of them with Ash Dieback Disease. Following advice in Aljos Farjon's book ‘Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape’, Pete and Steve from Wirral Countryside Volunteers coppiced the ash and some elder and used the brash to make a circle round the tree. This will free the oak from competition, and deter people from standing under the tree, which compacts the soil - and puts them in the way should a dead twig fall off! The tree's burry trunk can now be seen in all its glory. 

The oak tree after the surrounding ash had been coppiced.

When it comes to these special trees, the UK is immensely important. We have a phenomenal number of ancient and veteran trees compared with the rest of Europe. There are thousands all across the UK, from the oldest churchyard yews to lone oaks like this one standing in a field.

How old an ancient tree is depends on the species. Some species can live longer than others with yews, oaks and sweet chestnuts topping the age charts at over 1000 years. Other species, including birch and willow, live shorter lives.

Oak may live for 1,000 years, although 600 may be more typical on many sites. Hopefully this ancient oak tree will still be here for centuries to come.

More information about Ancient Oaks and pollarding

Aljos Farjon. (2017). Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape. Kew Publishing.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Pollarding, not a palaver!
https://www.ywt.org.uk/blog/yorkshire-wildlife-trust/pollarding

Woodland Trust. Ancient Tree Inventory.
https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/how-to-record/species-guides/oak/