The Great Oaks of Essex Parks and Other Trees
Two parks that Shenstone never seems to have visited are Lexden and Wivenhoe, both on the
outskirts of Colchester. Lexden only partly survives - the extant section contains the Lexden Dyke,
an immense Iron Age defensive ditch and bank and a scheduled ancient monument. It was this
structure that probably saved the park from being swallowed-up by housing development. The
park has a number of huge pollard Oaks 18 - 19ft in girth, plus an immense pollarded Beech and
pollarded Sweet Chestnut. Not all the remaining park is part of the local nature reserve - some is
privately owned. The area containing the dyke itself is being allowed to scrub over to protect it, but
at the expense of the grassy laund of the medieval park.
Wivenhoe Park now houses Essex University (since 1964); the university halls of residence and
other buildings provide an incongruous backdrop to the ancient pollard trees of the old park. There
are a number of pollard oaks, particularly noticeable around the university playing fields, together
with an immense pollard (g.b.h. 27ft) near the lake. I suspect that both Lexden and Wivenhoe Parks
would have significant assemblages of saproxylic invertebrates.
Pond Park (private, but traversed by footpaths) near Leez Priory, disparked in the 18th century, still
has at least one remaining substantial oak tree. It is not on a hedge line, but stands in the middle of
a field. I estimated its girth at around 20ft. There are. however, quite a number of old pollard ash
trees in hedgerows, or on old hedge lines, at least one of which may be a park boundary pollard. I
also recorded two sizeable field maple pollards, one of which again may be a park boundary tree.
Littley Park (also private, but with footpaths) near Leez Priory, is now mostly undistinguished
arable farmland (it was a well-wooded park at one time). It does, however, have some pasture
grazed by cattle (and still fallow deer) and in this area (TL 696168) visible from the footpath are a
line of five pollard ash trees (estimated girth 13ft - 16ft), though once again whether these were
present before the park was disparked is questionable. Similarly, a huge white willow pollard is to
be found nearby (adjacent to the footpath) with a girth of 21ft 4ins.
Marks Hall, Coggeshall, had its ancient oak pollards survived, would today be one of the most
important sites in Essex for veteran trees and saproxylic invertebrates. It is known that Thomas
Phillips Price, who owned the estate from 1898 to 1932, left his third wife Mary Elizabeth only a
life interest in the park. It is said that she never recovered from the shock of discovering this, and
having retained the right to fell the timber, allowed the ancient trees to be cut down and the old park
to be planted-up with conifers by the Forestry Commission (on a 999 year lease) in 1956. Only a
handful of old pollards survive, including the Honywood Oak (gbh 28ft) and a sizeable Wild Service
tree.
Weald, like many other parks, was also planted with exotic species of tree in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. It lias the obligatory Wellinglonias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). One unusual
park for planted trees is Gaynes Park. Upminster (Parklands). Not only does it have a huge native
Black Poplar (Populus nigra), but it has a very fine collection of other poplars, sallows and willows
(salicetum), some of which are now very sizeable, including what is probably the biggest Crack
Willow (Salix fragilis) in Essex.
Trees noted here in 2003 included Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum), Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus
altissima), Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum). Walnut (Juglans regia), some fine Plane trees
(Platanus acerifolia) and two types of'elm (Ulmus procera ('suckers') and a probable hybrid). The
poplars, willows and sallows would seem to include Black Poplar (Populus nigra). Aspen
(P. tremula), White Poplar (P. alba), Grey Poplar (P. x canescens), Lombardy Poplar (P. nigra
f. italica). Hybrid Poplar (P. x canadensis var serotina), Balsam Poplar (P. trichocarpa), the willows
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Essex Parks: Section 1 - Parks in Essex