Sizergh's Ancient Tree Trail

Lake District

Base of an ancient tree, which is gnarled and has hollows in, standing in a field next to a dry stone wall. — Ancient tree at Sizergh | © National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor

A short walk through historic parkland to discover some of Sizergh's most impressive ancient trees.

Near to

Sizergh

Start point

Postcode LA8 8DZ, Grid Reference SD 49721 87867

Address
Postcode LA8 8DZ, Grid Reference SD 49721 87867
Directions via Google Maps
By bus
In Cumbria, take Stagecoach 555, Keswick–Kendal/Lancaster (passing close to Lancaster), or the 552, Kendal–Arnside (passing close to Arnside).
By train
Oxenholme station is 3 miles (5km) away.
Cycling
National Cycle Routes 20 and 70 pass by the main gate. From Kendal, take Route 6 to meet Route 70. These routes are on roads so are best suited to experienced cyclists.
By road
Take exit 36 from the M6, then follow the A590 towards Kendal. Take the Barrow-in-Furness turning and follow the brown signs. If you're travelling from the Lake District, take the A591 south then the A590 towards Barrow-in-Furness. Postcode for satnav: LA8 8DZ.
Total stages: 10
Total stages: 10
Start point
Postcode LA8 8DZ, Grid Reference SD 49721 87867
Stage 1
From the car park, take the gate out of the northern end of the car park. You'll cross a bridleway, before going through another gate and out into a field, with the path running diagonally across the field.
Stage 2
At the next gate there is a bench. Go through the gate and continue on the surfaced path through the field. At the top of the field is a gate which takes you around the edge of a small farmyard.
Stage 3
The path continues through a narrow strip of woodland called Rash Spring. The path has a gentle upward gradient, which gets steeper towards the end. As you enter the wood, you'll see the first important trees, a beech and an oak.
The beech and oak trees
The beech was probably planted to provide a point of interest in the view from the House. The oak is considered a veteran, and was significantly damaged in storms in early 2024. Although this will damage the short-term health of trees, they adapt to the loss in energy that the leaves would have provided by retrenching back elsewhere. The increased light triggers cells in the bark, new side shoots emerge, and eventually the strongest of these become new limbs. The tears in the branch provide fantastic habitats, especially for roosting bats.
Rash Springs woodland at Sizergh | © Steven Barber
Stage 4
Leave Rash Spring wood through a gate and emerge into Holeslack farm yard. On your right is the old summer house, built to look like a lime kiln. A Pitmaston Duchess pear tree is somehow thriving, growing at what looks like an impossible angle. The path bears left round the barn and left again, heading downhill towards an orchard.
Old farm buildings on the Holeslack Accessible Trail. | © Steven Barber
Stage 5
As you enter the orchard, an ice house is within the retaining wall of the farmhouse garden on your right hand side. Follow the path around the edge of the orchard and through a gate into Holeslack Wood. On your left before the gate is a large pear tree, a Bergamont D'Automne. There's an excellent view back towards the House from the orchard.
Orchard trees
Historic maps show us that each of the original farmhouses had a pair of orchards adjacent to the farmstead, and this is in evidence at Holeslack. The orchards were replanted in the 1990s, but a couple of important trees survived from an earlier planting. The first is the Pitmaston Duchess pear tree, and the other is the large pear tree, a Bergamont D'Automne, one of the oldest pear varieties - it was known in the Middle Ages, and may date back to Roman times. This is the large tree in the orchard just before you enter Holeslack Wood.
Stage 6
The path continues through Holeslack Wood with a gentle descent. There is a log bench close to where you enter the wood. At the next bench, the accessible path turns left and heads downhill. To visit the Pheonix Yew, take the right next to the bench instead, heading up hill from around 50m, and then return to the accessible trail. There are some really impressive ancient trees throughout the wood and the ground flora is a delight through the flowering season.
The Phoenix Yew
By making a small diversion from the Holeslack accessible trail, you'll be rewarded by our best example of a pheonix tree - a tree that falls but rises again. This yew is big enough that it would have been classed as a veteran tree when it fell, but what is truly remarkable is how it survived this catastrophic event and is now growing back up towards the light again. When it fell, not all of the roots were severed, which continued to provide the tree with enough water and nutrients to survive. Incredibly, some of the branches that are now touching the soil have become roots, and the flow of nutrients within the cells has changed direction. The tree is also providing lots of deadwood in various stages of decomposition, and the wood mould this creates is an amazing habitat. The wood mould on this yew tree is being tapped into by a birch tree, which is now growing directly from the yew.
Stage 7
Returning to the accessible trail, the path heads down hill. Around 25m downhill from the junction is a large yew tree. Opposite that, on the right hand side, is a steep, narrow, unsurfaced path that heads uphill to the county champion yew tree. This tree is surrounded by a rope fence, so please admire the tree from behind the rope to protect the tree from trampling and root compaction. From here, return back down hill to the accessible path.
The Ancient Yew
This is the oldest tree on the estate. Estimating the age of yew trees without taking a core sample is difficult, due to the irregularities in the shape of its stem. However, our best guess is that this tree is between 1600 and 2000 years old. It's a county champion, thanks to its huge girth. Yew trees invest a lot of energy into long life, with anti-rot chemicals in the wood and toxins in the leaves and seeds. They also have an incredible ability to regenerate, sprouting new growth from dying or diseased trunks. The thin soil means that some of the root matter is very close to the surface, which makes it susceptible to damage from trampling. This is why the rope barrier has been set up, so please admire this magnificent tree from the rope!
Stage 8
As you reach the bottom of Holeslack Wood, you'll pass under some large spruce trees, which are remnants of previous management. We're reducing the non-native conifer cover in our woodlands, but these few trees have been retained as they add some diversity to the woodland. Amongst the spruce there is an optional left turn, taking you onto a small board walk and willow screen overlooking the pond. Return to the main path and continue on the path as it flanks the pond and emerges out into Flashbank, which is part of the historic deer park. On the other side of the gate on Ashbank Lane is an ancient ash tree, which has significant hollowing.
Stage 9
The path takes a left turn very close to a large, hollow ash tree pollard. The path then goes through a high gate hung from massive limestone stoops, heading uphill on this historic track which is flanked by a wide hedge and stone wall. At the brow of the hill is a perch bench for a well-deserved rest.
Stage 10
The final section of the walk heads back downhill to the castle, passing two veteran sweet chestnuts, which were planted by Cecilia Strickland in 1780 from seeds collected in Versailles, making them 240 years old.
End point
Sizergh Castle car park, grid ref: SD498878
Trail map
Map of the Ancient Tree Trail at Sizergh | © Sam Sharples
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