Tree Funds can be used for large plantings of woodland saplings, or a single tree. It is the latter that I write about here. A small part of a larger project, the tree I speak of here has become a focal point within a new burial ground in the west of England.
My village had not had the facility to bury it’s own dead for more than a decade, after the church grounds were deemed ‘full’ and closed to new interments. This placed folk who had been born, had grown, worked, loved and raised their children in the village in the position of being buried miles away outside the village when they died.
After some five years of work in which I was deeply engaged, the Parish Council opened a new burial ground in 2012, created from a donated paddock of semi-improved grassland atop a rise above the village. From the new burial ground views extend across the Cotswold Escarpment – it is a beautiful site!
The creation of the burial ground was not easy. Located as it is beside an thirteenth century Grade One listed church, we had to bring in archaeologists to check for buried remains before we started levelling the ground. We tried to explain to the planning authority that there was more chance of finding remains after we began burying folk, but they weren’t impressed…
We also had to check for hydrology and for non-human folk who might be living there already – hedgehogs and slow worms especially – and ensure we did not disturb them. In fact we were already intent on improving the biodiversity and making a ‘nature enhanced’ environment, but all these investigations took time.
One thing the planning authority’s biodiversity team asked for was the planting of a Wild Service Tree, as this native and beneficial tree was relatively rare in the locality. As a Member of The Druid Network I approached the Trustees and asked for a donation toward the planting of this specimen tree.
The requirements for TDN funding are clear and simple: the request must come from a Member [tick], the land in question must be open to the public and freely accessible to pagans [tick]… well, in short the funding was agreed.
Our Wild Service Tree was planted in the first week of December 2011ce – the first week of winter, if you will. Having gone to the trouble of securing a good specimen it did look awfully small when I saw it, staked upright at the edge of the ground. It’s placement was both to provide a visual focus but also such that it did not screen the escarpment view from a couple of neighbouring homes.
As the years have gone by the tree has thrived, has withstood minor nibbling from deer and rabbit, has flowered and berried and gone through the gamut of colours the tree is renown for. Although only a single tree, it holds focus in the entrance to the burial ground and enhances the biodiversity of an already beautiful site. A brass plaque identifies the tree as being planted by The Druid Network, and presents a small indication of active Druidry into the landscape.
Mark (bish) Rosher
Councillor and Chairman, Charfield Parish Council (2007-current)
