The Greenwich Meridian

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East Grinstead probably first celebrated its position on the Meridian in 1954 when it acquired a coat of arms – this incorporates a white line representing the Meridian running through the town. The Town Council offices are located in East Court, a former country house, built in 1769 and extended in 1906–07.

In 1999, on the eve of its Silver Jubilee, the Tree Council of Britain arranged for 25 Meridian Trees to be planted along the route of the Meridian. The trees, which were a mixture of Silver Birch and Silver Lime, were all donated by the Millennium Tree Line Project. Of the 25 trees, the exact of approximate planting locations of just 14 are known. This Silver Lime is one of them. A second is a few metres away to the south. Whilst some, like this one, were planted on or very close to the Meridian, others were planted as far as several hundred metres from it.

Each of the trees was supplied with a black plaque provided by the tree council bearing the following inscription:

This tree marks the Greenwich Meridian and celebrates the Tree Council’s 25th Anniversary in 1999, the eve of the new Millennium

This tree still had its original plaque when visited at the end of June 2003 (no picture available), but when revisited in April 2005, the plaque had been renovated, the two inscribed elements having been remounted on a new baseboard. This was replaced in 2014 by a new green circular sign carrying the original wording.