Shugborough Yew tree is widest in Britain

A 350-year-old yew tree at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire has been recorded as the widest in Britain. The tree has a crown circumference of 575ft (175 metres) - about the same size as the auditorium at the Royal Albert Hall. It has been recorded in the Tree Register of the British Isles (TROBI) as the tree with the largest crown in Britain and Ireland, and it is suspected that it may even be the largest in Europe. It was measured recently at a training day held by the Ancient Tree Hunt as part of their project to research and record specimen trees.

"This remarkable tree has spent most of its life growing naturally sideways rather than upwards," said David Alderman, from TROBI. "Many of its branches have rooted themselves, providing even more vigour as it has engulfed other trees originally planted 25 metres away. As yew can live for 1,000 years or more, if left unchecked, this tree could potentially keep growing ever wider and eventually cover the whole estate."

Read more about this on the Daily Telegraph website or on the Woodland Trust website..