Chiffchaffs chirped, Pevensey Castle’s blue and yellow flags fluttered in the spring sunshine, a breeze rustled the bare branches of a stand of tall trees – and all seemed well in this corner of Sussex.
Those tall trees are English elms, Ulmus procera – an iconic species that once stood sentinel across Britain’s lowland landscape, their straight, slender trunks and billowing, thundercloud-like canopies immortalised by countless artists and poets. In folklore, elms often had a sinister, rather Gothic reputation, as they were associated with death, partly because of their habit of suddenly shedding branches.
For centuries, elm wood was prized for its toughness and beautiful swirling grain, and fashioned into everything from flooring to furniture, cartwheels, tools and coffns. Because elm holds its shape and strength when waterlogged, it was often used in ships’ keels, lock gates and water wheels. Elms were also renowned for the ecosystems they supported, including
