Castle Coole is a stately home which belongs to the National Trust, though the current Lord Belmore lives in a modern house in the grounds. Like their noble neighbours at Crom and Florencecourt, his ancestors took a real interest in trees. One tree is a special giant. From the outside, this horse chestnut grows with […]
Champions
These are trees that have been formally recognized as the tallest or broadest of their kind.
The Broadest Beech
The eventual winner as biggest beech was this giant at Castle Coole in Co Fermanagh, which measured 21 feet around, but there is always the possibility that yet larger ones may yet be discovered. The Castle Coole beech was pollarded – this form of tree management means that large branches are cut back on a […]
The Giant at Drum
Dramatic champion trees are to be found at Drum Manor Forest park near Cookstown. Drum is a relatively small forest park, meticulously well kept, with lakes, gardens, and a caravan site rated among the top 100 in the UK. It is based on the old Manor House, which only has walls and a tower remaining. […]
The Ever Young Star of Clandeboye
One for the record books is a rather special Monterey cypress Cupressus macrocarpa, the tallest in Northern Ireland. The tree has retained its youthful ‘fastigate’ form. Thomas Packenham, author of ‘Meetings with Remarkable Trees’ has named it Cupressus macrocarpa Clandeboye. Tall, dark, and elegant, this tree, like an ageing film star, has maintained a slim […]
An Elegant Fir at Gosford
The arboretum at Gosford Forest seems somewhat underestimated. It contains some lovely specimen trees, well spaced in a quiet grassy setting without too much formality. The forest also has formal gardens, open parkland, forestry, a collection of poultry, rare breeds such as Soay sheep, and red deer clearly visible in their enclosure. The arboretum champion […]
The Tall Scot
This tree was admired by Thomas Pakenham, author of the wonderful book ‘Meetings With Remarkable Trees’. The pine Pinus sylvestris stands among woodland in the valley of the great Baronscourt estate in west Tyrone. The champion pine was planted with other ornamental species when the lake side drive and gardens were landscaped. Over the years, […]
Two Mighty Spruce
Downhill Wood is now Forest Service land, its entrance opposite the Bishop’s Gate of the National Trust Downhill property near Castlerock on the North Coast. Once in the forest, a path leads down towards a group of old conifers planted when the wood was still part of the Downhill demesne. One is a huge sitka […]
The Giants of Castlewellan
The original 5 hectare walled garden at Castlewellan was founded in 1740. The nineteenth century arboretum planted by the Annesley family has been extended by the Forest Service to about 40 ha. It now has so many champion trees that it really needs an entire book to itself – it has to be visited. Here […]