Ancient trees and landscapes
Trees have long been a part of our cultural landscape, having been worked and managed since prehistoric times. Ancient trees are often all that remains of our most historic landscapes but through them we can glimpse what was happening in the past. Where land use has changed over the centuries, a standing ancient tree or group of trees is very valuable as a visible relic of former field and land-use patterns.
The greatest concentrations of ancient trees are found in traditional forests, wood pastures, parkland and wooded commons but they can also be found in parks, hedgerows, meadows, and even in urban areas.
In modern Britain, landscape management recognises the importance of retaining distinctive local landscapes. As a result, there are initiatives to maintain particular types of tree population, such as pollarded willows in the fenlands and parkland trees around cities.
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The old meaning of forest is an extensive area of rough land on which the king or major landowner had the right to keep deer for hunting. Read more >>
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Chases and Parks were established originally as private hunting areas. Read more >>
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A wood pasture is an area of grazing land with trees. Traditionally, the trees are cut periodically for fuel and/or for additional fodder for the livestock. Read more >>
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Commons or open land were used, at least in part, as traditional grazing land for commoners in the vicinity of settlements. Read more >>
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Closed-canopy ancient woodlands, as distinct from wood pasture, usually contain a proportion of old trees but the growth-habit of trees in closed canopy makes them less likely to reach a great age. Read more >>
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Hedges are linear barriers, many of which have prehistoric origins. Often they were the landscape reference points on which boundaries could be formalised. Read more >>
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Ancient trees can be relicts of former landscapes encircled by housing or development. Read more >>
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Old orchards were once a common feature throughout the countryside, but small traditional orchards are increasingly rare. Read more >>
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Ancient trees can be found as relicts in the middle of fields. In arable fields ploughing too close to trees is believed to be very damaging to their roots. Read more >>
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