The Prescott Pinetum, Uplyme

In 2011 some of our members made 3 visits to the Pinetum.  It is just off Woodhouse Hill in Uplyme. It was originally known as “Woodhouse” and was planted by Dr. Baker and Rev. Rhodes between 1840 and 1860. It was donated to the Woodland Trust in 1977 by Capt John Prescott in memory of his father. At the entrance there is a sign (not too easy to see) and a seat. Two young trees have been planted each side of the path by relatives of Capt. John Prescott, a Tulip Tree and a Dove (Handkerchief) Tree. Two giants guard the beginning of the path, a Wellingtonia on the left and a Coast Redwood on the left. One of the Wellingtonias elsewhere in the Pinetum is thought to be one of the tallest in Devon.

The path runs on between magnificent Oaks and Beeches, tall and straight; they give you the impression of being in a Cathedral with their towering, pillar like, trunks. It is a fine sight at Bluebell time, too, and is well populated with Badger setts in the Greensand above the path. A little stone ruin on the left of the path is thought to be a Folly where the owners might have sat to view their land, (or by some, to be a woodman’s cottage or shelter!)

Now, below and to the right of the path are most of the collected plants. The site is sheltered, and well watered from seepages and springs, so the trees thrive. They include a Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo), a Monkey Puzzle, a Dove Tree, (not done to call it Handkerchief Tree!), a Hiba, a Western Hemlock, several Noble Firs, an Atlas Cedar and a Prince Albert’s Yew, regarded by Alan Mitchell in his tree guide as a “Notable Tree”.

Our main task here has been to locate and name the trees from a plan, re-find the Species Rhododendrons and identify the rampant R. ponticum. Inevitably there are some very pretty hybrids. Two species found were R. thomsonii (lovely pink bell-like flowers) and R. niveum, as well as the named hybrids R. ‘Purpureum Roseum’, and R. arboreum X R. ponticum ‘Richard Waterer’. Other pink- and red-flowered rhododendrons, some of them very large, remain unidentified.