The Pound Tree

The elm on the green was always called the old pound tree but whether the pound was ever on the green is not known.

In the old days each village had its pound in which straying animals were held until their owners paid a fine and reclaimed them. If unclaimed, the animals were sold to defray expenses. In the catalogue printed when the Wherwell Estate was sold by the Ironemonger family in 1913, one of the lots includes the "Site of Pound", which is shown on the plan as being where the public telephone now stands. This can be verified on the ordnance survey map of 1871. The photograph reproduced on the front cover of our anthology this year is taken from a copy of this catalogue and it shows what the pound tree looked like then. There is, of course, no War Memorial as this was not built for another six years.

An old postcard, dated 1903, gives the impression that the elm was a very large tree then. It appears to tower behind a chestnut tree which overhangs the wall of Manor Farm House. This tree is still in evidence in the 1913 picture, though it no longer exists to-day. However on the opposite side of the road stands "Chestnut Cottage" which was named after it.

The pound tree was a favourite spot for the children of the village. Some of the branches stretched right across the road and at haymaking time, when Fred Young's loaded haycart passed beneath, the boys would climb out and stealthily drop down on top of the hay. Fred never knew how they managed to get there - so he said!

 

As time passed, some of the larger branches fell across the cottages and eventually the tree had to be pollarded each year. By now it was hollow and the children would climb inside and even light fires within the trunk! In 1956 it had become so dangerous that the Parish Council decided that it must be felled. There was quite a lot of opposition from the local inhabitants; it had stood there for so long and seemed an integral part of the village. It also served a useful purpose as the village notice board and a central meeting place. However, the deed had to be done and on June 13th of that year, woodmen from the Wherwell estate axed all round the base of the tree and tried to pull it over with a rope. The old tree was still sturdy enough to resist so Ted Cloud, one of the woodmen, fetched his chain saw and cut through the hollow trunk. When it was tugged over this time, one of the branches hit the War Memorial, badly damaging it, so its life did not end without incident.

There was quite a long delay in re-erecting the Memorial as the Chilmark stone originally used was very scarce. EventuaJly it was repaired by Page & Sons, of Andover, using most of the existing material plus some Monks Park Bath stone.

 

In the autumn of 1956, Mr. Vincent Reiss and his brother, Mr. Peter Reiss kindly donated a flowering cherry tree to take the place of the old elm. It has flourished and grown large, as you can see, giving a lovely display of blossom in the Spring and colourful Autumn tints.

 

Jeanne Nolder.