CONSIDERING how extraordinarily well the chestnut tree grows in Britain, it is a disappointment to learn how irregularly it fruits and how small are the nuts it produces. The nearest presumed native population is in south-eastern France, 350 miles south of Kent, and that is the problem-it is too cold here. Nevertheless, grow here they do, in good years approaching the size of those we buy, sometimes in great quantities. What you are unlikely to find is anything like the large, single-fruited marron.
This is a cultivar and unlikely to grow wild in Britain. Sweet chestnut trees can grow to an enormous size and age.
The Cowdray Colossus in West Sussex has a trunk 41ft in circumference and the Tortworth Chestnut in Gloucestershire is believed to be 1,200 years old.
The latter record is doubtful, however. The long-held belief that Castanea sativa was a Roman introduction is considered unproven, with the 12th century being more likely.
Either way, it is what Oliver Rackham described as an 'honorary native'.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A berry timely harvest
AS summer leans into autumn and either end of the day anticipates the season to come, I occasionally find myself checking the slowly colouring fruit of the Chilean guava hedge that edges one of the perennial beds.
The rest is history
Narrative art that explored religious, mythological, historical or allegorical subjects took a while to become established in Britain, but, when it did, it was in its grandest form, on the largest scale and for a very long time, finds Michael Hall
The show must go on
England travel to Pakistan for a three-match Test series. James Fisher contemplates the sublime and the ridiculous
If walls could talk
Is it possible to take on the genius or character of those who have slept in your bed before? Steven King stays in homes with illustrious past owners to find out
That old chestnut
For the unimaginative Briton, chestnuts roasting on an open fire is the only way to go. Yet these sharp little nuts can elevate your baking game, assures John Wright
The world on the doorstep
England, Africa, Italy or China-it's possible to travel the world without leaving this imaginatively designed garden, which divides into four distinct geographical sections. Each one has resonance for the owners, reports Caroline Donald
To build or not to build
When it comes to the skyline, do we need to know when to say 'enough is enough', asks John Goodall
Pyramid scheme
In a city as large as London, the problem of where to lay the dead to rest is ever-present. One extraordinary unfulfilled scheme would have made space for five million, finds Jack Watkins
Best foot forward
Some of the country's finest estate agents let Annabel Dixon in on the secrets of prepping a country house for sale.
Nice work in the West
With hybrid working now a fact of life, four special houses in Devon and Cornwall are well equipped to more than pay their way