Mysterious Britain notes that the first written reference to the tree is Daines Barrington's in 1769, when the trunk measured about 56 feet round. By 1770 the trunk had decayed to ground level, and a wall was built to protect it, but by 1833 visitors had stripped more wood away for souvenirs. Lighting Beltane fires may also have harmed it, and in 1854 funeral processions were noted passing through the tree on their way to the church.
The idea that it marks a pre-Christian holy place is a surmise from place-names and finds, not a documented fact. In 2015 a branch on the male tree began to produce berries, which Wikipedia says scientists linked to stress.
Comments