This may be the oldest living Christmas tree in the U.K.


The National Trust, a conservation society in the U.K., says it has found the oldest living Christmas tree in Britain.
The 158-year-old tree, a giant redwood, was once part of the estate of Thomas Philip Gray. Gardeners from the English Heritage, which owns the estate, recently found a reference to the tree in the June 1900 issue of the Gardener's Chronicle. The 1900 article claims the tree was planted in 1856 and was one of the U.K.'s first giant redwoods.
English Heritage believes the tree is one of the first examples of the Christmas tree trend taking off in Britain, during the Victorian period.
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The English tree doesn't hold the title of world's oldest living Christmas tree, though — that honor goes to an oak tree in North Carolina. And if you're curious, the world's oldest living non-Christmas tree is a 5,062-year-old pine tree in California.
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
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