Ghost story and our trees

Much of the ghost story (see earlier post) is based on fact and this led us to start exploring the history of the trees on our site. We know from photographs and historical documentation that the school site is in the once grounds of Gilbertstone House, which was knocked down in 1939. we also know that there was a boating lake in the gardens and have a photograph to prove it.

Using a simple calculation we measured the trunks of the trees to try and find out their approximate age. Two of the trees, an oak and a beech came up with being nearly 200 years old and would certainly have been in the grounds at the time of our story.

Now we are contacting the Woodland Trust to see if either of these tres and others in the school grounds qualify for ancient tree status.