SIMULACRA CORNER

This odd seated figure (perhaps a woman wearing a gas mask?), sent to Fortean Towers by Mark Spurlock, adorned the trunk of a copper beech tree in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Frome, Somerset. Known as the ‘Tree of Souls’ because of the bulges and twists in its trunk suggesting lost souls climbing heavenwards, the tree has now been felled, as it had long been attacked by ganoderma (white rot) and was deemed unsafe.

We are always glad to receive pictures of spontaneous forms and figures, or any curious images. Send them (with your postal address) to Fortean Times, PO Box 2409, London NW5 4NP or to sieveking@forteantimes.com.