Guardian of the Gateway

Working in collaboration with Highland artist Isabel McLeish to celebrate the ancient Wych Elm tree at Beauly Priory – which was nearly 800 years old and believed to be the oldest Wych Elm in Europe. Sadly, the tree was dying of Dutch Elm Disease and it had its last buds in 2021. It finally fell over in a storm in January 2023, just months after this project was completed.

An event was held within the stunning Beauly Priory on 24th September to celebrate the ancient Wych Elm tree during the Autumn Equinox with stories, food and art as part of Year of Stories 2022. This event, brought together the local community with artists, writers and partnership organisations to discover, celebrate and share their own stories and research about the Wych Elm.

The celebration featured the first reading of a new commissioned story from Highland writer Mandy Haggith, as well as invited tree health experts Phil Baarda (NatureScot) and Max Coleman (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh). Some of the stories created in response to the tree, collected through Circus Artspace’s open call, will also be showcased. Many of the local community attended and enjoyed food and tree-inspired family art activities with artist Sadie Stoddart.

The project aimed to celebrate and showcase the heritage and cultural value of the Wych Elm tree at Beauly Priory, managed by Historic Environment Scotland. Isabel McLeish and Circus Artspace gathered old stories from people and created new ones through a series of community events; which formed a new publication Guardian of the Gateway. The project aimed to encourage dialogue about the implications of climate change, disease spread and ecological loss in the Highlands as well as celebrate our relationship with an ancient Scottish tree.