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The 13th century priory of Inchmahome, once home to a small community of Augustinian canons, nestles on a small, low-lying island in the middle of the Lake of Mentieth in Stirlingshire.
The Antlered Chestnut
Of the many fine trees on the island, the three veteran sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) steal the show in terms of antiquity and character. These heavily gnarled individuals are probably more than 400 years old. Although extensively decayed and hollow, they are still very much alive, and are the island’s oldest living residents.
The girth of their gnarled trunks ranges from 4.4 metres (14 feet 4 inches) to 6 metres (19 feet 8 inches). The largest of the three is known as the Antlered Chestnut because its stag-headed branches resemble the antlers of a deer.
A royal visit
The trees might well have been around when Mary, Queen of Scots paid a visit to the island in 1547. Accompanied by her mother, Mary of Guise, the four-year-old infant queen sought refuge at the priory for three weeks following the English victory at the Battle of Pinkie. A poem penned by the Reverend W M Stirling in 1815 recalls the royal visit:
Those giant boughs that wave around
My aged hoary head,
Were then the tenants of the ground
Where walked the royal maid.
Where to see the Inchmahome veterans:
Alongside one of the walks radiating from Inchmahome Priory on an island in the Lake of Menteith, in the Stirling Council area. The priory is in the care of Historic Scotland and public access is available via a small passenger ferry most of the year, except the winter months.
Image: copyright Archie Miles
