The 2003 AGM address. Veteran trees and saproxylic invertebrates at Hylands Park
beetle fauna. Despite the paucity of pollard trees, Hylands is, however, a notable site for its sizeable
standard trees, some two-thirds of which are Pedunculate Oak. Quercus robur. I estimated the
population of large standard Oaks (girths 10ft = 3.05m and over) at around 200 in 2003, with many
hundreds in the 6ft (1.83m) and over category. There are substantial numbers of very large standard
Oaks in the 13ft- 17ft (3.96m-5.18m) girth category (sec sample list). Other species that make a
contribution to the population of significant standard trees, include Horse Chestnut, Lime Tilia x
vulgaris. Ash, Plane (few), Sycamore, Beech (rather few), with Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris and
Yew in the formal gardens.
The vast majority of the largest Oaks probably date from the period 1600 to 1800. The oldest tree
ring count I made was 326 years in a standard Oak felled by the 1987 storm. This tree had a girth
of 13ft 8 ins (4.15m) and would have started life in about 1660. Of a number of felled Oaks to have
had their rings counted, I found a great variability bearing little relation to the actual girth of the
tree. A tree with a girth of 15ft (4.57m) had 256 annual rings. Another with a girth of 12ft 5ins
(3.77m) had 284 annual rings and yet another of girth 7ft lOins (2.38m) had 148 annual rings.
Many of the old standard oaks, like the pollards, are on old hedgerow boundaries, the best example
being the 10 or so trees in alignment between the Margaretting Gate and Oak Plantation. The grove
of 27 very large standard Oaks (largest tree 16ft 11.5ins = 5.17m) opposite the entrance to the
Stable Block is something of a puzzle, but I suspect they originated as the standard trees in a
coppice wood which subsequently had its coppice stools removed and boundary bank flattened as
part of a landscaping scheme. Chapman and Andre (1777) show coppiced woodland in approximately
the right position.
SOME NOTABLE STANDARD TREES
Oak Quercus robur (girthed at 1.3m)
Formal Gardens TL 68324 04290 13ft 3ins 4.03m
Formal Gardens TL 68412 04416 13ft 9ins 4.18m
Lake Field TL 68817 04609 14ft 9.5ins 4.49m
By Writtle Gate TL 68087 05255 15ft 3ins 4.64m
WrittleHills TL6812004522 15ft 8ins 4.76m
Lake Field TL 68649 04475 16ft Sins 5.01m
Formal Gardens TL 68341 04436 16ft Sins 5.08m
Nr Main Gate TL 68759 04219 16ft 10.5ins 5.15m
Nr Stable Block TL 68382 04166 16ft 11.5ins 5.17m
There is a good age range of standard Oaks in the park. However, this tends to be very uneven in
distribution around the park - the largest trees are to be found due east of the house, south of the
Stable Block and in the Writtle Hills area. The formal gardens has some 20 trees with girths over
8ft (2.44m) and a few notably larger in the 13ft - 16ft (3.96m - 4.88m) bracket. Lightfoot Spring
has probably a similar number of suspiciously uniform looking standard Oaks of girth 6ft - 9ft
(1.83m - 2.74m), possibly planted with timber production in mind. There is also a fine standard
Ash here.
Most of the standard Oak trees are apparently in good health - though they do harbour some
(sometimes rare) species of bracket fungi, such as Ganoderma resinaceum, Inonotus dryadeus,
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)