Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue, on Rutland and Lincolnshire border, to receive £114,000 from National Lottery Heritage Fund

A yew-nique arboreal tourist attraction has had its future secured thanks to a grant worth almost £115,000.

The Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust has been awarded £114,650 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to protect and preserve the trees and rides.

The Avenue, which is at the edge of Clipsham, on the Rutland and Lincolnshire border, is almost half-a-mile long and contains 137 yew trees, each more than 200 years old.

Each tree is clipped into topiary shapes, with special designs and emblems.

The lottery funding will be delivered over five years, starting in January, to support the trust which was set up in 2018.

Dr Patrick Candler, chairman of the trust, said: “This is absolutely wonderful news for the avenue and means we now have the funding security to continue to keep the site in great condition and also to restore the lost topiary designs for the next five years.”

The avenue was once the carriage drive to Clipsham Hall and was taken on by the Forestry Commission in 1955 which turned it into a popular free-to-access visitor site.

It fell into disrepair from 2010 when the commission decided it could no longer maintain the site.

But the charitable trust was set up in 2018 and took over the running of the site, working with the Forestry Commission, to begin bringing the avenue back to its full glory.

“In 2014/15 the trees were very unkempt,” said Patrick.

“All the designs had grown out, they were very straggly, so we started to restore them.”

As well as a band of 25 to 30 volunteers, the trust has also been supported by local groups and businesses, including the Oliver Branch, in Clipsham, and the Castle Inn, at Castle Bytham.

Yet the lottery grant provides longer term security and the confidence to plan for the future.

“There are emblems on the side of the yew trees which are very specific to Rutland, to key dates in our recent history, and they have been grown on the side of the trees, but it takes four to five years for these to come to maturity and be seen,” Patrick explained.

“We have already started that, and some of them are now beginning to come good, but we still have more to do.

“This grant will allow us to restore all of the designs that were there in 2010 and hopefully we’ll be putting in some new ones to celebrate the 21st century.”

The money will be put towards annual maintenance, including the restoration of the emblems and designs.

The Trust will also improve education and information boards, replace older furniture, and carry out biodiversity surveys to monitor wildlife species.

The project’s broader goals are to save the heritage of the historic yew avenue, protect and sustain nature, and create a place of greater visitor value.

He added: “This is Lottery money, so this is what we can give back to the people who buy their ticket.”