Qual é a árvore mais antiga de London?

Ring counting does not work on ancient yews because their heartwood rots away, so estimates for the Totteridge Yew run from 1,000 to 2,000 years. Even the cautious low end makes it older than any building in London, and the high end means it was already a substantial tree when the Romans founded Londinium. It stands in the churchyard of St Andrew's in Totteridge, a village long since swallowed by North London, and the 13th century church beside it is the newcomer on the plot: the tree predates it by centuries at minimum. The district's Hundred Court once met in its shade, which tells you how long it has been the local landmark. London's runners-up are oaks rather than yews: Richmond Park and Greenwich Park hold hollow pollards in the 700 to 900 year range, survivors of the royal hunting grounds. But for sheer age, nothing in the capital touches the yew. Getting there is simple: Totteridge and Whetstone station on the Northern Line, then a 15 minute walk through the old village.