Tree of the month: October 2023 - Sweet Chestnut

The Sweet Chestnut, thought to be introduced to England by the Romans from its native home in the Mediterranean, can live to 700 years and reach a height of 35 metres. After about 25 years it starts to produce the distinctive prickly burrs which contain the edible Chestnut. Most of our Chestnuts are imported but going chestnutting in October is a great foraging activity. Young trees have a smooth, grey bark while on veterans it becomes deeply fissured and twisted.

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​The tree can grow well on poor soils and in many areas, including on Parkwood Springs, it has been coppiced to produce a multi-stemmed tree. Sweet Chestnut is important for wildlife and has been a valuable wood for many centuries. Sweet Chestnut leaves are glossy, and deeply serrated. Both male and female flowers grow on the same tree.

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​The Wildlife value of Sweet Chestnut:
Many insects benefit from the pollen on the long, male flowers of Sweet Chestnut but the leaves are of even more value to other invertebrates - the caterpillars of over 70 of our 2,500 species of Moths feed on Chestnut leaves. This includes species like Green Silver-lines and the Yellow-tail, the Bordered Sallow, Clay Fan-foot and Yellow-legged Clearwing. Worryingly the Oriental Chestnut gall-wasp is proving a threat to the trees in the UK and in 10 secret locations parasitic wasps have been released and are being monitored to see if they can reduce the risk.

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​The nutritious Chestnuts provide a valuable food source for Jays, Wild Boar, Deer, Squirrels, Badgers and Mice among many other birds and animals, including the newly - and noisily - arrived colonisers in our area - Ring-necked Parakeets.

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​Roe Deer are increasingly seen on Parkwood Springs, especially at dawn and dusk. They will benefit from food like Chestnuts and young leaves and twigs but also could prove problematic for our planned new young trees and hedges.

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​Uses of Sweet Chestnut as a food:
The Romans used Sweet Chestnuts as a staple food and, although there is no definitive evidence they brought it to England, they are believed to have done so. Chestnuts are the nuts with the highest level of vitamin C, and are gluten-free and low in cholesterol. As well as eating Chestnuts whole, the Romans ground them into flour and meal, and gave chestnut porridge to their soldiers before they went into battle. Corsican polenta was made with chestnut flour.

We still use chestnuts in many recipes - for stuffing, soups, nut-roasts as well as roasted, boiled and eaten raw whole. Roasted Chestnuts were a common, nutritious food sold on Victorian streets.

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Chestnut Coppicing:
Chestnut is one of the main trees, along with Hazel and Hornbeam, that has been coppiced for centuries. Many old coppices are now ancient woodlands. In coppicing, trees are cut at their base, producing multiple-stems.

A chestnut is coppiced by cutting stands of woods in sequence every 7-14 years, producing a completely renewable source of timber. As biodiversity is also higher on woodland edges and glades, where the light enters, coppices are also one of the best ecosystems for diverse woodland, birds, flowers and insects. Many unmanaged woodlands are, by contrast, becoming too dense and shaded for many species to thrive.

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​This renewable chestnut wood crop has had many uses over the centuries.

Charcoal made from sweet chestnut fractures with many facets so heats really well. The charcoal was valuable for activities like iron-smelting and hopdrying.

Chestnut timber is light, strong and straight-grained, and was used extensively for pit-props, hop-poles etc in the past. Being weather-resistant it is still in demand for fence-posts, railwaysleepers, furniture and roofing, and in children’s playgrounds.

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​Herbal uses and symbolism:
The bark, leaves, flowers and nuts have been used as a strengthening and calming herb, and to treat stiff joints. The nuts have antioxidant properties and are high in fibre.

The tree symbolises strength, abundance and longevity. To the ancient Greek it was known as the ‘acorn of Zeus’.

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Harvesting English Sweet Chestnuts:
Here’s a tip if you want to forage for English Chestnuts - wait until the spiky burrs fall and are bursting open. Open carefully with gloves or boots to avoid getting the spines in your hands, or search in the leaves for those that have already fallen out of their prickly casing. Take off the outer skin of the nut, visible in the photo. The inner skins are astringent so I prefer foraging for those that still have white bases, as the soft inner skins peel easily from these. Peel off the outer skin and scrape off the inner skin for a delicious snack- or roast or boil at home.

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​John Clare: The Winter’s Come
Sweet chestnuts brown, like coming leather turn;
The larch trees, like the colour of the sun;
That paled sky in the Autumn seemed to burn,
What a strange scene before us now does run
Red, brown and yellow, russet, black and dun;
White thorn, wild cherry, and the poplar bare;
The sycamore all withered in the sun.
No leaves are now upon the birch tree there:
All now is stript to the cold wintry air.

Shakespeare has the first witch in Macbeth say:
“A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap
And munched and munched and munched…”