A 150-year-old ash tree has had to be cut down, after decaying issues raised concern for public safety and posed a threat to church property.

The large weeping ash tree, in St Mary’s Churchyard, Launceston, was due to be cut on Tuesday, January 15. However, due to the size of the tree and its location, the difficult operation took over three days to complete.

Heather Letts spoke on behalf of the church and said: “As as sad as it is, this major defect in an important part of the structure will cause the tree to decay.”

Upon close inspection by a tree surgeon, it was apparent that the trunk was worse than it appeared. The surgeon, Anthony Maunder, had located significant decay in the top portion of the tree, which resulted in the local planning authority granting permission for registered tree surgeons to fell it. This was a difficult decision to make as there had been an ongoing debate, ‘to fell or not to fell’, for quite some time, according to Heather.

She said: “The debate to fell or not to fell has been rumbling on for more than two years, the council approved the felling but of course we’ve had to wait for the autumn leaf drop to end.

“It has been discussed and it is a regretful decision to chop down such a lovely old ash. But public safety comes first.”

It had been hoped to replace the old tree with a similar weeping ash, but in the UK native ash trees are being infected by Ash Die-Back disease, which has resulted in the import of young ash trees stopping completely.

Despite losing most of the tree, it will still remain a part of the church as there are plans to transform the stump into a seat, which will give views across the churchyard to Dartmoor.