Jabet's Ash

Quite right Helen and in Coventry we have both Gibbet Hill and Wainbody Avenue!

This is an article from the Warwick & Warwickshire advertiser 1925. The old tree was taken down in 1915 as it had become dangerous. JABETS ASH." The offer of Mr.. Whiteman, of Binley Road, Coventry, to present to the city a piece of land, adjacent to the site of Jabet's Ash, there being planted the land a young ash grown from cutting taken from that ancient tree, was accepted the Coventry City Council Tuesday, and the Deputy-Mayor (Alderman W. H. Grant) expressing the city thanks, gave some interesting details of the historic tree which stood for centuries in Binley road, but which with the development of the district has now disappeared. , "Jabet's Ash," Alderman Grant explained, stood on a spot which now marked the corner of Binley-road and Marlborough road, a tree with the story of thousand years behind it. The origin of the name might doubtful. Some thought that it had something to do with a gibbet, but some associated it with the Coventry Prior. Joubert, or as the name was spelt in some the old records. Joibertus, who was Prior of Coventry towards the close of the twelfth century. The ancient tree marked the boundary between the county and the city, where the Mayors, Aldermen, and Councillors in their scarlet and blue robes went to meet the Royal persons who came to the city from that direction. The tree was mentioned Dugdale, and loomed largely in the documents now in the muniment room at St. Mary s Hall. The old tree, rich in historical associations, was taken down because it was reported to unsafe, and the sapling which the city was now asked to accept was taken from it by Mr. Whiteman, who not only gave the tree and the site but expressed his willingness to enclose the land at his own expense.

A great piece of history Annewiggy. Thanks a lot. This clarifies what we merely hinted at.

Afraid this is an ash tree. It is called The Jabets Ash. Tree marks the boundary of the old city and also a meeting place. It is a replacement of the original tree which was one of the city's gibbets, the tree is a clone and taken from a graft of the original.

scrutiny, thanks for your topic and the replanting. This topic has jumped 7 years, so I had not seen it before. Now, I had often wondered about that tree. Jabets Ash, as I read it, goes back to Henry II, 12th century. The life span of an ash tree is nothing like that, so there has been a lot of bad history, but I never found anything about replanting till your post, although I guessed there must have been. So yes, they did hang highwaymen and such, and it was a meeting place outside the city gates. To the left of the tree there was an old road. Down Folly Lane, Tom Arnold he came, to vote for Jeffries and Barlow. Arnold was a voter of experience from London, he came that way to avoid mobsters on the old London Road. 'Fole' is the danish word for people. Around 200 years ago close by, at the far end of Stoke Green, against Bulls Head Lane, there was a very tall elm tree of considerable dimensions which was known locally as 'Dick's tree' because 'Richard planted it' So I believe people got mixed up about the trees, Voting in those days has to be read to be believed,

Great photos Greg. There are a small number of pictures in the photo library of significant trees around Coventry and in my searches I came across an entire sketchbook of the really old ones in the Herbert Archives. I confess that I didn't give them the attention they deserved but the sketches were lovely. Clearly Coventry folk have respected their trees.

From the newspaper archives, in 1925 the wording of a plaque was agreed and laid in place on the 30th October 1925. The wording was This tree marks the site of Jabet's Ash, a famous landmark and boundary. It was grown from the stock of the ancient tree and was presented to the City by Henry Whiteman Esq. in 1925 to preserve the tradition of the spot and to commemorate Alderman William Hewitt who resided in this neighbourhood and who died during his mayoralty on 3rd June 1924. I can find nothing to say if the actual wording was used. In 1950 an article by "A Warwickshire man's diary" says the tree is in bad state and the plaque is overgrown. I presume that the plaque is no longer there.

Another old ash tree was at the side of the mill pool in Silver Street. Here an old woman and her baby were lost - they dragged the pool, the lifeless woman was found but not the baby. Next morning the baby was found alive, having floated on to the roots of a large ash tree.

Fine photo Neil before the houses built next to it on Binley Road. I expect the existing one was a sapling!

If the plaque is not there Anne it should be replaced, for posterity.

Diggerdave (#2) - it is not the Coventry Oak, the tree on Binley Road close to Marlborough Road, Stoke is Jabet's Ash! See Annewiggy's account of it (#17) and Greg's photo (#4) in this thread!

But the whole area is historic. There was a very tall elm tree of considerable dimensions against Bulls Head Lane, known as Dick tree. On the same road was Jabets Ash that parted the two parishes, and to the left was Folly Road, also famous, it was an area of considerable woods fields and boggy ground, and all aged even two hundred years ago.