Charles’s Jubilee treebute
In honour of his mother, Prince awards special status to 70 of Britain’s most significant trees
THEIR majestic boughs have shaped the story of the nation.
Now 70 of the country’s most significant and spectacular trees are to be given a special status as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
They include the Lincolnshire apple tree reputed to have helped Sir Isaac Newton develop the theory of gravity when he saw a fruit drop from its branches, and a churchyard yew in the Cotswolds whose vast trunk is said to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings writings.
The Prince of Wales today launches the campaign to honour the trees, one for every year of his mother’s reign, with a video message recorded in front of a 423-year-old sycamore at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
He says: ‘Planted in 1599, during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI, it is remarkable that this ancient tree is as old as Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Caravaggio’s David And Goliath… Trees and woodlands have a profound significance for us all – their steadfast and reassuring presence a reminder of our long-serving Sovereign and her enduring dedication.’
The project will also recognise 70 ancient woodlands and forms part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project to plant and preserve trees.
In her seven decades on the throne, Her Majesty has planted more than 1,500 trees around the world.
The tree is a running motif of the jubilee celebrations, with more than a million people having ‘planted a tree for the jubilee’ this year. And a giant tree-like structure will be installed outside Buckingham Palace over the summer. It will be made up of 350 young trees in pots, which will be planted across the UK once the installation is dismantled.
Other trees chosen for the special conservation status include the impressive National Champion silver fir in Argyll, known as The Monster and believed to be the largest in the UK; the Royal Oak at Boscobel House, Shropshire, which is a descendant of the tree in which the future Charles II hid to escape Parliamentarian forces; and a huge yew in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, which is so vast that a bench has been constructed within its trunk.
Darren Moorcroft, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said: ‘Ancient woods and trees are jewels in the UK’s landscape.
‘The Woodland Trust is delighted the Queen’s Green Canopy is highlighting the need to protect these treasures in our natural heritage.’