A MILLENNIUM ceremony in a wild wood has raised the ghosts of a saint and other spiritual leaders who met there 1,400 years ago and agreed the date of Easter.

Members of a rural historical society have planted a third generation "Apostle's Oak" at Abberley to ensure posterity does not forget the site where St Augustine conferred with a gathering of Celtic bishops in 602 AD.

The ceremony, including a dedication in Latin, was especially enjoyed by Abberley historian and writer Angela Thompson, owner of the land.

Mrs Thompson's late father Trevor Stonehouse bought the area known as the Lodge Coppice to preserve the ancient oak tree planted in the 1750s to replace an even earlier oak reputed to be the "Apostle's Oak."

Mrs Thompson said: "My father left it to me because he knew I would take care of it. I was delighted when the Pensax and District Historical Society decided to plant a new oak.

"The old one is still well alive but it is beginning to look a little the worse for wear after all the storms and it seemed a good way to mark the millennium.

"My gardener Tom Miles of Bayton supplied the young tree and we had it dedicated in Latin by Bede Howell OBE, last year's president of the Royal Forestry Society."

She said the site was where St Augustine was believed to have agreed with Celtic bishops the standard date for Easter celebrations.

The original tree eventually became completely hollow, was thatched and used as a turnpike cottage on the old road which ran from Great Witley round the Western spur of Abberley until 1735.

Mrs Thompson said a stone still stood at the foot of the second generation tree but the old inscription had worn away.

Plans have been made to re-cut the stone.