398 TRANSACTIONB AND PROCKEDINGS OF THE [Sess. Lxvii. 



and preserve them. This yew is one of about half a dozen 

 which very closely compete for the distinction of being the 

 largest in Britain (Photo. No. 1). It girths 34 ft. 4 in. on 

 the ground ; at 3 ft. above the ground, 32^ ft.; and at 5 ft. 

 above, 30 ft. The pieces of paper pinned to the trunk 

 indicate the girthing places — 3 ft. and 5 ft. above the 

 ground. The foliage and twig growth of the tree are very 

 healthy and vigorous, but the trunk is hollow, and is a mere 

 shell. There is a door which admits to the cavity, which 

 is seated all round, being quite large enough to hold a 

 number of people, for it measures in diameter 8 ft. one way 

 and 9 ft. 3 in. another. Since Evelyn's time, it would 

 seem this tree has not increased in girth, for he then speaks 

 of it as being about ten yards in compass. The Great 

 Chestnut at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, is a tree about 

 which there has been much discussion. In summertime its 

 head appears a dense mass of healthy foliage (Photo. No. 2). 

 The trunk girths 49 ft. 2 in. at 4 ft. from the ground — the 

 place indicated by the paper pinned to the tree. This tree 

 is on the Earl of Ducie's estate, and is about a hundred 

 yards away from another very old and beautiful church. In 

 1646, when John Evelyn recorded the measurements of the 

 Greendale Oak, it was evidently in a flourishing condition. 

 It was 88 ft. high, "the diameter of the head was 81 ft. 

 from bough end to bough end," and was very fresh and 

 sound. The Greendale Oak is in Welbeck Park, and belongs 

 to the Duke of Portland. Visitors at the Dukeries will not 

 see this tree unless they inquire for it specially, as it stands 

 a little away from the ordinary drive, in an open glade 

 (Photo. No. 3). A roadway was cut through the trunk in 

 1724, as a consequence, it is said, of an after-dinner bet of 

 Henry, the first Duke of Portland. Since then it has been 

 the custom of the successive dukes to pass through the 

 roadway with their brides shortly after marriage. The 

 height of the archway when newly made is given as 10 ft. 

 2 in. Now at the highest point it is only 9 ft. 3 in., and 

 at the lowest it is only 8i ft., thus it is evident that the' 

 trunk has shrunk considerably, and does not stand as high 

 out of the ground as it did formerly. At present the 

 trunk girths 30 ft. 1 in. at 4h ft. from the ground, 

 or at the place indicated by the paper which appears 



