Eyreton Forest, Crosby

Tucked between farmland and modern housing in Crosby on the Isle of Man, is a section of privately owned registered woodland that’s history shows of one man’s true dedication to his beliefs, as well as being home to some mighty fine trees.

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The remnants of the buildings you can see in the picture were formerly a school, built under the supervision of Reverend Robert Aitken, who himself was under the direct guidance of god. The school issued it’s first prospectus in 1834 with the motto- “Holiness unto the Lord”, it’s goal- “…a school for the education of young men, to be conducted on exclusively Christian principles…”

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It is recorded that Robert Aitken planted a number of species of tree around the building. If this Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’) is one of those original trees, which it most likely is, that would make this tree over 180 years old.

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For more history on the area please get in touch and we will pass on a copy of the documents we hold. Please note that this woodland is private, and if you should require any further information then please contact us and your messages shall be passed onto the owners.

We offer a full range of tree management services, including woodland management, and we can offer advice on how to best manage registered and veteran trees. If you have trees that you’d like us to take a look at then feel free to contact us.

The information for this article was taken from an article published on pages 24/25/26 in January/February 1978 edition of ‘Manx Life’ entitled ‘The Strange Story of Eyreton Castle’.

Happy Autumn,

Ben Brooker – ben@trees.im