Montcuit

August 2000 – Tim Hills: A bole of striking appearance with all twiggy growth removed. The tree is higher than the church tower, its growth carried on 2 vertical, parallel branches. The hollow bole is filled with internal growth. Girth was 25′ 1” (765cm) around the base but above bulging roots.
August 2013 – Wim Peeters: South west of the church, oldest tree with a girth of 744cm in line with the church axis. Younger male tree south west, close to the entrance gate, with a girth of 305 cm. The 1856 reference to the tree reads as follows: ‘It has a circumference of 750cm. Its umbrage covers all who rest in the cemetery. It also seems to want to protect the humble house of God next to which it stands’. On the church website http://montcuit.com/eglise.html it is written that a piece of metal is fixed in the tree two metres above soil level. I did not see this, but as I was not aware of it at the time, maybe I just have not noticed it. The southwest side the trunk has a big gap probably because a part of the crown broke off. This can explain why the circumference appears to be bigger in 1856 than it is today.
The website of the church gives a current circumference of 7,70 m. Internal roots are being formed in this gap. Under the tree the soil is covered with some woven membrane.