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| Olive (Olea europaea) |
While working at the Chalke Valley History Festival in
Wiltshire, I was lucky to meet the owner of a Hampshire farm and he told me a fascinating story about the ancient
olive that he had in his garden. In early August, I went to see him and his
lovely tree.
The owner has lived on the farm for most of his
adult life, about 60 years. The property dates back to the Early Medieval
Period; it is mentioned in Domesday. There is a fish pond that is also Early Medieval and a walled garden, yew avenue and coach house that are testament to there having been
much grander houses on the site than at present. There is a long record of
occupation on the farm which has kept the same name that it had before the Norman invasion.
The story of the olive is that it was planted by a crusader
in 1307. The tradition was that when a knight returned from the Holy Land, he
would carve a cross on the door way of the local church. The
knight would also plant a tree and one such crusader, probably one of the
Chamberlain family who lived at the nearby Manor planted this olive.
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| "Crusader Crosses" on the door jamb of the local church. |
It does not look 710 years , does it? But could this be the re-growth from an older, ancient bole? Or could it be a cutting taken from the first tree and planted in it's place? Has there been an olive growing here for over 700 years? Whatever the truth of it, it's a great story! The owner has cared for it and defended it. One enthusiastic and very well known botanist and TV gardener wanted to come and dig it up and take it to his arbortum, but the owner very wisely declined that offer. More recently, he has had sycamore trees removed from around it as they were over-shadowing the tree. As soon as this was done, the tree responded and put on much of the top growth that can be seen in this photo above.
The larger stem is hollowing, possibly where another stem
has been removed. At 1.3m above ground
level (just below a swelling where the first branch bifurcates) the stem has a
girth of 1.3m.
The smaller stem has a girth of 1.2m at 1.5m above ground
level.
The sucker is 50 years old (according to the owner) and has
a girth of 22cm just below the first branch, about 50cm above ground level.
The tree seems to be growing well. Two stubs, where branches
have torn off, are surrounded with epicormic shoots.
I don't think that we will ever know the truth of this tree, but that is one of the great charms of old trees. We do not know their full story, but we are teased with hints and rumours, signs and faint tracks that we can follow to trace their long history. Sometimes, an ancient tree will give us a chance to lift the veil of time and peer into the deep past.
