Welcome to National Tree Week. – Ancient Lime Trees
– by Margaret Pollock
Next time you visit us, see if you can spot our two majestic rows of veteran Lime trees (Tilia x europaea). They create a wind break and originally marked out some of the boundaries of the Estate.
We are blessed that 40 of these Ancient trees are still thriving and they are classed as an ‘Irreplaceable habitat’ for wildlife. There were probably planted about 340 years ago, as the House was being rebuilt in 1685.
In England, when William and Mary became the new Monarchs (around 1688), they imported Lime trees from Holland as part of their new landscape designs at Hampton Court. Any landed gentry wanting to show their support for the new Monarch rushed to plant these new, fashionable trees and indicate their loyalty.
A recent visitor to the House, who lived in the Cottage in the 1940’s, called the the Lime Avenue near the car park “The Blindman’s Row” .
If anyone can shed some light on it please let us know.
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Volunteering, we are always looking for enthusiastic team members for the gardens, explore more possibilities CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER
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Donations.
Donate and help Margaret & our dedicated garden teams stay on the go and keep up the good work to provide locally grown produce for the community via any of the links below to help