The Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt

In 1997, the National Park participated in the Somerset Veteran Tree Survey in partnership with English Nature, Somerset Environmental Records Centre, Somerset Wildlife Trust and Somerset County Council. The focus was on historic parklands and ancient woodlands such as Nettlecombe, Pixton, Dunster, Horner Woods and the Barle Valley Woods. In 2003, a survey of Exmoor’s churchyards was carried out and successfully recorded many ancient yew trees.

In 2006 the search was expanded with the launch of the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt. The aim was to find trees outside the areas previously surveyed in 1997, whether they be situated in fields, hedgerows, village greens or gardens. Data will be shared with the Ancient Tree Forum, The Woodland Trust and The Tree Register of the British Isles who together are coordinating a nationwide search for ancient trees www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk

For 2007 the hunt is back on. Due to the huge success of last year, with a total of 1700 trees being recorded, the hunt will continue to find the remaining ‘kings of the forest’ in Exmoor National Park. The aim for this year is to continue where the 2006 Ancient Tree Hunt left off and find the remaining ancient trees in the missing gaps of our map. Though of course we would be happy to hear of any ancient trees in previously recorded areas, gaps in the distribution of trees have appeared in the results from 2006, particularly in Western Exmoor.

So please keep you eye’s peeled for ancient trees in your local area or on your land and let us know about it. Either by filling in a survey form yourself (from the link below) or contacting us. These trees are internationally important, which Exmoor seems to be particularly lucky to have in high numbers. By recording their distribution on Exmoor we can hopefully secure their conservation for future generations to enjoy.

In order to accomplish our goals the National Park Authority are using a variety of approaches:

1. Seeking information from locals and visitors by means of a poster campaign.
2. Contacting landowners.
3. Training the Exmoor Conservation Volunteers to survey for ancient trees.

Get involved

If you know of a large tree which might be ancient you can join in the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt by downloading and filling in the form (PDF,147KB) and sending it to:

Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt
Exmoor National Park Authority,
Exmoor House,
Dulverton,
Somerset,
TA22 9HL
Tel: 01398 323665

For recording purposes species such as oak, beech and ash should have a girth of 3.75 metres at breast height whereas species such as hawthorn, birch, rowan, willow and yew need only have a girth of 1.8 metres. Trees considered to be of exceptional value to conservation, culture or the landscape may sometimes be recorded even if they do not meet the criteria above.

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