Today’s photo shows one of the horse chestnut trees forming the avenue that led from West Park’s main gates off Anlaby Road to an original large heated conservatory that no longer exists. This particular tree has a rectangular hole at the top of its short main truck (horse chestnuts normally have low sturdy main trunks).
It is clear from the two main branches above that at this point a third main branch fell leaving a deep wound in the fabric of the tree, As is normal after such events, the tree has tried to make wood to cover the open wound as quickly as possible before infection sets in. This new growth only reaches so far, at which point the tree has decided that the wound is sealed. The tree itself is alive and has ‘sticky’ buds ahead of bursting into leaf next month; however, its growth has not been as vigorous as neighbouring trees.
The hole is very reminiscent of ‘squints’, a not very common these days feature found in parish churches. The squint was either at the side of a chancel screen or in the wall of the church near the edge of a chancel screen. In both cases the squint gave the viewer a limited view of the pre-Reformation mass with the elevation of the host, a ceremony either not witnessed by the congregation at all or glimpsed through an ornate wooden screen. The internal squint may have been for a special member of the congregation; status, terminally ill or other. The external one is often stated to be for local lepers not allowed into the church. Lepers were shunned, but sympathised with.