Page Trees

A stand of page trees grows within the grounds of the Concent of Saunt Edhar, on the rise between the Decade Gate and the Century Gate. They are tended and used for producing page material from their leaves.

First Appearance and Context

They are described as a coppice that one can walk through after harvest, when most branches are bare and many leaves lie on the ground. Only a fraction of leaves are collected each year; the rest curl, fall, and litter the paths.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Purpose and yield: About one leaf in ten is high‑grade page material suitable for a typical quarto‑sized book. Common flaws include small or irregular shapes that will not fit a cutting frame, insect‑gnawed holes, and thick veins that make the underside hard to write on. Leaves near the ground are most prone to flaws; the best yield is found on middle branches not far from the trunk.
• Cultivation for access: The trees have stout mid‑section boughs so that younger members can climb safely during harvest.
• Harvest and drying: Each autumn, younger workers (as fids) pick the best leaves and skim them down to older Avout, who stack them in baskets. Later the leaves are tied by their stems to lines stretched from tree to tree and left to dry as the weather turns colder.
• Pressing and aging: After the first killing frost, the leaves are brought indoors, stacked, and weighted under tons of flat rocks. It takes about a century for them to age properly. Each year, once the current crop is under stone, older stone‑piles made roughly a hundred years earlier are checked; when ready, the rocks are removed and the leaves are peeled apart.
• Making pages: The sound leaves are stacked in cutting frames and made into blank pages for distribution to the concent or for binding into books.

Relationships

• Roles in harvest: Work is shared between younger Fid cohorts and elder avout; the former climb and pick while the latter receive, stack, and supervise processing.
• Related crafts: The trees are described as having been brought into being and shaped for utility; those who did so are referenced but not detailed here.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Best picking zones are the middle branches near the trunk; lower leaves tend to be defective.
• Stout mid‑section limbs enable safe climbing and efficient gathering by the young.
• Seasonality: Harvest, drying, and the first frost mark the turning of the work; after harvest the coppice is largely bare with many fallen leaves.
• Spring cycle: As the vernal equinox approaches, buds appear on the page trees, marking the start of the growing season.

Current Status/Location

Page trees are present as a coppice within the concent’s grounds, notably on the rise between the Decade and Century gates (see Page-Tree Coppice). In the described season after harvest, branches are bare and fallen leaves are abundant; processing continues indoors under stone and by inspecting century‑old stacks for readiness.