Tree roundels are a feature of silvopastoral agroforestry, which is the planting of trees on grazing land. It has been practised for hundreds of years, although has seen a decline since the 1850s.1 Often formed of oak, these dense circular clusters of trees provide shade for grazing animals whilst also protecting the younger saplings from strong winds.2 They provide critical habitats for many insect and plant species and act as “an island or stepping stone” for wildlife across open fields.3 Their catkins are a source of pollen for bees, and their dense, evergreen canopy offers year-round shelter for birds.
A climate mitigation project undertaken by Project Drawdown has identified that silvopasture has an important role to play in modern agriculture, arguing that it is one of the top ten climate solutions,4 therefore protecting these trees is essential for maintaining ecological balance and preserving the historical landscape. William Sidney Cooper’s painting Canterbury Cathedral from the Stour Meadows, Kent illustrates the use of tree roundels near areas of cattle grazing. The roundel contributes to the rural idyll of the cathedral’s landscape setting foregrounded by the water meadows.
Many of the roundels, which were once dotted across the landscape, have been lost as a result of urban expansion.5 However, there are fine examples in the farmland to the South of Canterbury. A group of five roundels in a field off Stuppington Lane provide an attractive foreground to panoramic views of Canterbury Cathedral as seen by visitors arriving from the continent via the A2 and are important cultural icons. Formed of 79 veteran trees of which 24 are holm oak, the roundels appear as mature features on an 1890 map of Canterbury indicating that they are much older. Holm oaks which are native to the Eastern Mediterranean were introduced to Britain in the late 1500s where they thrive in the warmer climate of the South of England.6 They are evergreen broadleaf trees that can grow to 20 metres and develop a huge, distinctive, rounded crown. The UK Biodiversity Action plan has recognised the importance of mature and interesting trees and their role in the countryside in general.7 Aesthetically the roundels south of Canterbury complement the rolling fields and iconic oast houses that signal to the visitor that Canterbury Cathedral is at the heart of the Garden of England.
Tree roundels became a distinctive feature of the English landscape garden from the early 18th century as part of a style described by Horace Walpole as the “forest or savage garden”8. Planted as ornamental features in the parklands surrounding large country estates, they acted as focal points across the landscape or marked estate boundaries. Examples in the Canterbury area can be seen in the parklands of Bourne, Charlton and Broome Park. A roundel north of Hales Place in Canterbury serves as a reminder of the mansion, gardens and park which once graced the area - demolished in the 1920s and redeveloped. The St Peter’s, Wincheap, Riding Gate and St George’s roundabouts on the Canterbury ring road have been planted with roundels echoing the city’s rural past, but these modern constructs are aesthetic features which receive a glancing interest from hurried motorists.
References
‘Silvopasture: The benefits of integrating livestock and trees’ Sustainable Food Trust; Butler, J. and Alexander, K. Trees, forested landscapes and grazing animals. Routledge, 2013. ↩︎
woodlands.co.uk ↩︎
‘Agroforestry benefits of silvopasture roundels’Woodland Trust ↩︎
Butler and Alexander, 2013. ↩︎
‘Holm Oak’ Woodland Trust ↩︎
‘Ancient and Veteran Trees’, Woodlands.co.uk ↩︎
Hunt, John. A World of Gardens, Reaktion Books, 2012, p. 141. ↩︎