Location | England East Sussex Forest Row |
N side of: footpath | |
Distance (S) from Greenwich | |
OS map details | OS Explorer: 135 |
OS grid ref | TQ 40085.33378 (540085,133378) |
WGS84 lat/long | 51.082626, -0.001420 |
Type | Tree | Plaque (tree) |
Marking date | 1984 |
Access | Unrestricted |
When in the spring of 1984, Epping District Council announced it intention to plant western red cedars along the Meridian to mark its ‘centenary’, it also urged other local authorities to do likewise. Of the seven who said they would, Wealden District Council is the only one that appears to have actually done so. They planted specimens of sequoiadendron giganteums – a tree also known as wellingtonia, but more commonly as the giant redwood. In time, they will tower over their neighbours, reaching perhaps a height of 50–85 m. The variety is long lived – the oldest known specimen being about 3,500 years old. Of the four planting sites identified, three (of which this is one) are spaced at roughly 0.5 mile intervals in the Ashdown Forest. The other is a couple of miles further south at Furner's Green.