Trees woods and wildlife
Ancient trees
How long do trees live? How old before they're ancient? Get the low-down on ancient trees and where to find them in the UK.
Credit: Wolstenholme Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Credit: Wolstenholme Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Some trees can live for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
The UK's oldest tree is the Fortingall Yew, which is 2,000 to 3,000 years old.
So far over 209,000 trees have been recorded in the Ancient Tree Inventory.
There are thousands of old or ancient trees in the UK. They're important to our heritage and wildlife, yet they don't get the protection they need.
Mapping where they are takes us one step closer to helping them. That’s where you come in. You can discover old trees in your area and get top tips on how to spot them and record them on the Ancient Tree Inventory.
Found an important tree? Add any trees you see in three easy steps.
- Find a tree you think is very old.
- Add it to the map with basic information like the girth size, species and location.
- Your tree will be visited and verified by one of our experts.
More on ancient and native woods and trees
About us
Finding living legends
It is predicted that there are 2,000,000 ancient, veteran and notable trees across England alone. If we can find them, we can protect them.
Trees woods and wildlife
A-Z of British trees
Our A-Z guide to British trees from native species to naturalised and widely planted non-natives.