Situated on the English-Welsh border, Croft Castle is a quiet, ancient place steeped in British history and politics with a picturesque castle and medieval parkland re-fashioned during the 18th century.
Croft is home to the largest collection of ancient trees in Western Europe, including an avenue of veteran, dead, and dying trees of original Spanish chestnut which provides wonderful habitats for a wide variety of nature.
The 1,500 acres of woods, park and farmland is undergoing regular, vital projects to restore, revive and conserve the historic parkland for current visitors and future generations.
Funded by Blue Diamond Garden Centres, the 200 newly planted oak trees will reinstate the lost former oak avenue, which formed the original entrance approach to Croft, emphasising the significance of the parkland design and heritage and contributing to the legacy of Croft’s veteran trees.
The trees have been planted by Croft Castle’s rangers and volunteer teams. For protection from livestock, the sweet chestnut tree guards have been made with timber from National Trust Herefordshire’s own woodlands at Pengethley.
Hugh Warwick, Countryside Manager at the National Trust Herefordshire said; “We’re so excited to be able to restore this missing piece of Croft’s designed landscape, especially at a time when planting trees is so important to mitigate the challenges of climate change. Through their lives these trees could sequester enough carbon to offset driving to the moon 1000 times. They will also provide habitat for the myriad creatures which currently call our veteran oak and sweet chestnut trees home, offering fantastic continuity of habitat as they mature. We’ve chosen to plant a mix of pedunculate and sessile oak, giving this avenue the best chance of surviving whatever changes climate change may bring in the coming centuries”.