The Majestic Beech of Roumare
roughly 120 to 150 yearsEuropean Beech
One of the biggest beeches in the Foret de Roumare is also one of the easiest to reach: it stands at the forest edge beside the D351, a few steps off the tarmac rather than a kilometre into the trees. The register calls it un des plus gros de la foret and measures it at 128 centimetres across the foot of the trunk, which is a little over four metres round down there, on an estimated 120 to 150 years. Edge trees grow differently from forest trees. A beech in the middle of a stand is drawn straight up by its neighbours and holds its branches high; one with open sky on one side puts weight low and sideways, so its crown is lopsided and its lower limbs are heavy. That is what you get here, and it is why the tree reads as large from the road when taller beeches inside the wood do not. Beech bark stays smooth and thin its whole life, which is why every old beech near a path collects carved initials and why they matter more than they look: each cut is a hole in the tree's only defence. Please leave this one unsigned.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. No public transport reaches the forest. By car: park at the 'carrefour des treize chenes' and take the first forest path on the right ('Allee charmante'), then a short cut-through path to the right brings you to the tree at the edge of parcelle 182, close to the road.
- Species
- European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
- Age estimate
- roughly 120 to 150 years
- Location
- Edge of parcelle 182, beside the D351 between Canteleu and Sahurs, Forêt domaniale de Roumare (Forêt de Roumare, D351 between Canteleu and Sahurs)
- Access
- Free, public ONF-managed forest, no restrictions. Waymarked as part of the official 'arbres remarquables' trail.
- Getting there
- No public transport reaches the forest. By car: park at the 'carrefour des treize chenes' and take the first forest path on the right ('Allee charmante'), then a short cut-through path to the right brings you to the tree at the edge of parcelle 182, close to the road.
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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