Veteran lime

As a diversion from data entry and report writing, Rosie and I had a lunchtime walk at the Wildlife Trust's Old Sulehay nature reserve. I photographed mosses and lichens growing on limestone and bricks in Stonepit Close, a thallose liverwort growing on an ash trunk in the wood, but, although these were attractive, I had to share one of my favourite veteran trees with you.

At first sight this looks like a ring of trees, but its multitude of stems shows that it was once harvested for its wood and it is in fact a single massive coppiced stool of small-leaved lime Tilia cordata. Similar coppiced stools have been aged at 2,000 years old and this one is probably at least 1000. Long ago, after the last Ice Age, small-leaved lime was probably the dominant tree in woodlands in southern Britain, but a combination of grazing animals and cooler, damper summers which prevented seed production, meant that it became quite rare. Although small-leaved lime can be found at low density in ancient woodlands through much of southern Britain (and is widely planted), it's only abundant in ancient woodlands in the Wye Valley and Welsh borders, Central Lincolnshire, around the Soke of Peterborough and in parts of East Anglia and Lancashire.

Small-leaved lime (also known as lind or linden) is sometimes known as “the tree of a thousand uses”, as its wood has a tight, even grain that makes it ideal for carving and does not splinter when hit hard (hence Morris dancer’s sticks are often made of lime!). Grinling Gibbons, the famous wood carver who became master carver to King George I, loved to work with lime and most of his carvings in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Windsor Castle and Chatsworth House are made from this wood. Another huge benefit of lime wood is that it does not warp and so is perfect for making musical instruments and piano and organ keys.

If you strip the bark away from a small-leaved lime tree you will find underneath a fibrous layer called “bast” which was heavily sought after to make everything from baskets, ropes, nets, matting, cloth and even sandals. So, although it may not be that common any more, the small-leaved lime is an important tree in the history of this country.