Photographs of the Weald’s beautiful landscape have one thing in common – there are usually oak trees somewhere in view. The Weald’s history as the Roman forest of Anderida is written into the land; its traces live on in our ancient woods and hedgerows.
Hidden among the oaks, a rare tree thrives in the Weald as in few other locations in the UK. This is the Wild Service (Sorbus torminalis) but known to the Weald as Chequer. The local name roots it to its past connection with pubs, where a chequerboard was a symbol of a drinking house. Chequer fruits were used as an ingredient in early brewing, so would have been important to inns before the arrival of home-grown hops in the 16th century.
Chequer, being a Sorbus, is related to rowan although its fruits can look like tiny brown pears. Indeed, Hanbury and Marshall’s ‘Flora of Kent’ 1899 classified it as a pear (Pyrus). Sorbus is a fascinating genus with many rare species, some of which only grow in a single location in the UK.
Being a long-gone brewing ingredient can’t account alone for the tree’s continuing survival in our Weald woods, which were strictly managed over many generations.
Among several beliefs mentioned by Dr Patrick Roper in his book ‘Chequer’ (Sage Press) was that the presence of Chequer in oak woodland increased acorn crops. Some of our Weald villages (e.g. Marden) were settlements created by herdsmen fattening pigs on acorns (pannage) so this might have encouraged the retention of Chequers. Or was it because of its reputation as a witch deterrent?
Less romantically, chequer produces very hard wood, which was used in applications where great wear happened – such as mill machinery and cart axles, even crossbows and harpsichord components. In continental Europe, wood from the tree is prized as a decorative joinery veneer, as well as a popular liqueur ingredient. Any tree producing fruits late in the season would once have been a valuable source of food, as well as a cure for stomach upsets. Chequer’s mystique still lingers. Daughter of a Weald farming family, I was brought up with the belief that Chequers are special. Even modern woodsmen can go misty-eyed at mention of them.
Chequer is choosy about where it grows. While it’s present over a wide area, populations are sparse away from heartlands such as the Weald. It flowers, fruits and seeds occasionally, but most new trees are simply suckers of older trees that have fallen. So, some individual trees may be survivors dating back hundreds of years in our ancient woods.
Sometimes finding its ‘goosefoot shaped’ leaves on the woodland floor near a tree with fat pea-green buds in winter is the best way to identify it. Its autumn colour is fleeting but dramatic. It is a significant part of our shared heritage in the Weald, hidden away in the woods.
Lou Carpenter
So, do you know where any of these hidden gems are growing?
WKPS is allocating funding to some local research into this tree with a view to increasing the awareness of Weald residents.
Please let us know if you know where some are, or if you find one. Confirmed locations will be passed on to the Kent Botanical recorders.
Chequer trees are an indicator species of ancient woodland, which is of course prevalent in the Weald.