Tree of the Year for 2022: Yew Tree wins the competition

The Waverley Abbey yew tree's roots spread out above the ground before plunging into the earth

An ancient yew tree in Surrey, which is thought to be more than 500-years-old, has won the Woodland Trust's Tree of the Year competition for 2022.

The tree is on the grounds of Waverley Abbey, which is a historical English Heritage site and a monastery (a building or a series of buildings where monks live and worship) founded 900 years ago.

It fought off some tough tough tree competition and won 16% of the vote, according to the Woodland Trust.

The yew will now go on to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year 2023 competition.

What trees did it beat?

This rowan is estimated to have been planted between 1850 and 1880 and so could be over 150 years old!

The Yew tree beat the Portal Tree, which is a rowan tree shaped like an archway; this took 11% of the vote and came second place.

This tree grows in the grounds of Mavisbank House which is one of Scotland's most important historic houses.

These roots have grown from the fallen branches, anchoring them to the ground. This is a process called layering. Eventually, these branches will turn into trees in their own right

An old tree called the Layering Horse Chestnut in Derbyshire was voted third place.

Its mighty trunk is hollow which means it's empty inside and as you can see it is sadly breaking apart; the branches have fallen on its sides.

But despite this the tree still survives!

The aim of this competition, which takes place every year, highlights how important trees are in the battle against climate change, the Woodland Trust has said.

If you cannot see the quiz, click here.