Tree Folklore: Sacred groves, ancient yews, & living landscapes

Explore the rich folklore of Britain’s trees and woodlands. Followed by Q&A. Trees are among the oldest companions of human life. They shelter spirits, witness history, mark boundaries, provide places of justice, and inspire stories that become rooted in the landscapes around us, transforming them into places of memory, healing and belonging. From the ancient yews of Kingly Vale and sacred groves, to the haunted forests and the imagined landscapes of Winnie-the-Pooh, Dr Helen Cornish dives into how treelore connects people, places, and stories. She considers the less familiar histories of trees, asking how colonial expansion, botanical exchange, and imperial extraction reshaped both landscapes and ideas about nature. The folklore of trees reminds us that landscapes are made not only of ecosystems and environments, but also of memory, imagination and the enduring relationships between people and place. Bringing together folklore, history and anthropology, Dr Helen Cornish explores how trees are more than features of the landscape: they are living witnesses through which people remember the past, imagine the future, and continually remake their relationships with the more-than-human world. Doors open at 7, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat! Follow us on IG @seedtalks