A TOPIARY tree dating back to the late 1690s which is clipped annually with the help of scaffolding has been shortlisted for "tree of the year".

The 30ft Umbrella tree makes up part of the stunning display in the topiary gardens at Levens Hall, Kendal.

Shortlists featuring 28 of the UK's finest trees have been unveiled by the Woodland Trust, from almost 200 nominations, as it seeks to find a tree of the year for England, Wales, Scotland and North Ireland.

A winner for each country will be selected by a public vote and they will go on to compete in the European tree of the year contest.

Shortlisted trees in England include a mulberry bush at a prison in Yorkshire which is thought to have been the origin of the nursery rhyme Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, played by female prisoners with their children.

England's nominated trees also include rare elms, the famous tree on Hadrian's Wall which featured in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and the dying original Bramley apple tree from which all other Bramley trees come.

Scotland's shortlist includes the last remaining tree from the ancient Birnham oakwood, whose advance, it is foretold, will vanquish Macbeth in Shakespeare's play, and a sycamore which has "eaten" various objects including a bicycle after growing through the scrap of a blacksmith's workshop.

Trees making the shortlist in Wales include an 800-year-old oak which has witnessed the rise and fall of Dinefwr Castle, Carmarthenshire, and the Brimmon Oak, which will see a bypass diverted to avoid it thanks to campaigners.

In Northern Ireland, nominated trees include one of the country's oldest oaks which has witnessed the growth of Belfast, and two beeches wound together in the 18th century by John Wesley to symbolise the connection between the Anglican Church and Methodism

The winning tree in each country will benefit from a "Tree LC" grant of £1,000, and any tree with more than 1,000 votes will get £500, which can be used to arrange a health check, provide education materials or hold a celebratory event.

Beccy Speight, Woodland Trust chief executive, said: "These trees have stood for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and each will have a special place in peoples' lives.

"By celebrating them and reminding people of their value we hope to support and influence those who can ensure they continue to thrive for future generations."

The People's Postcode Lottery is backing the competition.

England's shortlisted trees for the "tree of the year" competition are:

:: Bowthorpe Oak, Bourne, Lincolnshire , a 1,000-year-old tree which stands in a field at Manthorpe and whose hollow trunk has been used for parties. It is claimed that three dozen people once managed to stand inside it.

:: Howletts Sweet Chestnut, Howletts Wild Animal Park, Canterbury, Kent , one of the largest sweet chestnuts in the country, which has a girth of more than 10 metres (33ft).

:: The Sycamore Gap tree, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland , one of the UK's most photographed trees, which grows in a dramatic dip alongside Hadrian's Wall and is famous for being filmed in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves in 1991.

:: Old Knobbley, Mistley, Essex, which is possibly the only tree with its own website, and is thought to be more than 800 years old, standing in land which was once part of the Earl of Oxford's estate.

:: King John's Oak, Shute Park, Devon, a tree which has grown for more than 800 years in the medieval deer park at Shute. It witnessed King John hunting in the park during his troubled reign, while the grounds were confiscated by Queen Mary in the 16th century because they belonged to the family of the recently-beheaded nine-day queen Lady Jane Grey.

:: Mulberry bush, HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, When the prison was a house of correction, women prisoners used to dance around the tree with their children, and invented the rhyme to keep the children amused.

:: Umbrella Tree, Levens Hall, Cumbria, a topiary tree which dates back to the late 1690s when the garden was laid out by Guillaume Beaumont. It is 30ft high and is clipped annually with the help of scaffolding and steady hands.

:: Original Bramley apple, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, the mother of all modern Bramley apple trees, which was planted more than 200 years ago from a pip in 1809. In 1856 cuttings were taken to grow in a local nursery on condition they were named Bramley's Seedling.

:: Chelsea Road elm, Sheffield, one of what are thought to be fewer than 1,000 elms left in existence across the country outside Brighton, following the ravages of Dutch elm disease, and which is host to the rare White-letter Hairstreak butterfly.

:: Seven Dials Elm, Brighton, more than 130 years old, and in 2013 due to be felled as part of a new road layout. A vigorous campaign by the local community prompted the council to redraw the layout to accommodate the tree.