Ulmus Procera - Uses

Uses

The English Elm was once valued for many purposes, notably as water pipes from hollowed trunks, owing to its resistance to rot in saturated conditions. It is also very resilient to crushing damage and these two properties led to its widespread use in the construction of jetties, timber piers and lock gates etc. It was used to a degree in furniture manufacture but not to the same extent as oak, because of its greater tendency to shrink, swell and split, which also rendered it unsuitable for shipbuilding and building construction. The wood has a density of around 560 kg per cubic metre.

However, it is chiefly remembered today for its aesthetic contribution to the English countryside, where it sometimes occurred in densities of over 1000 per square kilometre. In 1913 Henry Elwes wrote that "Its true value as a landscape tree may be best estimated by looking down from an eminence in almost any part of the valley of the Thames, or of the Severn below Worcester, during the latter half of November, when the bright golden colour of the lines of elms in the hedgerows is one of the most striking scenes that England can produce".