Wych elm removed from Highland village after 800 years

What remains of the Beauly Elm was loaded on to transport and moved into storage

A tree believed to be Europe's oldest wych elm has been removed a Highland village where it stood for 800 years.

The Beauly Elm toppled over last month after succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease.

It had been a distinctive feature at the entrance to the ruin of Beauly Priory, a monastery established by Valliscaulian monks in the 1230s.

The tree has been moved into storage.

Historic Environment Scotland, which has responsibility for the elm, said it was looking at how some of the timber could be repurposed.

Parts of the tree have already been donated to the local community.

A spokeswoman said: "Following the scheduled essential branch limbing process late last year, we donated the resulting timber to the Beauly Men’s Shed for reuse and we will again explore donating some of the wood from the elm to local community groups or artists where this is possible."

The elm was a well-known feature in the Highland village of Beauly

A cat had to be chased away for its own safety after trying to climb on to the tree during the lifting operation

References to the tree have been found in records going back to medieval times

There have been discussions that some of the wood could be given to craftspeople

Historic Environment Scotland previously laser-scanned the elm as part of work to document ancient Scottish trees