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St Giles Park - Wimborne (1)

Nearest town: Blandford Forum

Site type: estate

Access: Private

Church name:

Diocese:

County: Dorset

Country: England

Grid ref: not known

Lost yew site: No

Date visited: 12-Aug-11

Recorded by: Peter Norton

Protection & responsibility: Shaftesbury Estate

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 4m-5m

Notes: This is private land, part of the Shaftesbury Estate. The site has been in the possession of the ancestors of the Earl of Shaftesbury since the early 15th century. The present house was begun in 1651 for the first Earl. The landscaping seen today can be dated to around the mid 18th century when the lake was created. Around the lake, in the area known as the Pinetum, several stands of yew can be observed and may contain around 200 in total. The girths are not large and as noticed on other sites visited there are two distinctive types (1) those with a trunk and a break of crown above and (2) those in a multi-limbed form just above ground level. As well as the two yews recorded here others were noted in the range 11'/13'.