Traquair House, Scottish Borders

Traquair’s history goes back to at least the early twelfth century and the days of Alexander I, when it was a royal hunting lodge. The first Laird of Traquair, a title created in 1491, was James Stewart, a son of the Earl of Buchan and ever since it has remained in Stewart hands, famously closing its gates in 1745, never to be opened again ‘until a Stuart’ sat upon the throne again. Across this beautiful estate are individual yews, groves and avenues of various planting dates spanning at least 300 years. However, there is a grove of yews here thought to possibly be a remnant of the original wildwood and extant when the earliest hunting lodge was established. If so, they are over 1,000 years old. Whatever age they are, they are a mesmerising sight as they have such individually distinctive morphology. The grove is celebrated as a feature of Traquair and has become a place where open air marriage ceremonies are held.