EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Fontmell Magna’s Gossips’ Tree
The Gossips’ Tree c1900. Image from the Barry Cuff collection
It’s sometimes known as the Cross Tree but a more evocative name is the Gossips’ Tree – and it’s just as appropriate. The present-day tree on Fontmell Magna’s mini village green is a
lime but its predecessor was an elm which fell victim to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. For much of its history the old elm was equipped with seats to help villagers catch up on the gossip. As Sir Frederick Treves put it in his Highways and Byways of Dorset, first published in 1906, ‘In the centre of the village is a
very ancient tree with seats around it, where the gossips of the place congregate to mumble over flocks and herds, and the affairs of pigs.’ Exactly how old the elm was is debatable. One modern source suggests that it was planted on the site of a market cross in the 18th century.
The Gossips’ Tree today with Brookhouse in the background
32
Always free - subscribe here
