The Greenwich Meridian

Currently viewing images from 14 Jun 2017

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Although the Millennium Tree Line Project aimed to plant many thousands of trees on the line of the Greenwich Meridian, in practice, rather fewer than 100 are known to have been planted. Six were planted at three locations in Surrey. This is one of them, a common oak (quercus robur). It was planted within an existing hedgerow, forming the northern boundary of a field crossed by a footpath, now part of the Greenwich Meridian Trail (established in 2009). At the time of planting in February 1917, the distinctive green Millennium Tree Line discs had not yet been produced, so the tree was left unmarked.

After roughly ten years of slow growth, the top of the tree was decapitated (hedge trimmer or cow?). At that point, its future seemed uncertain. Over the following 10 years, the tree finally managed to establish itself and by 2017, was roughly twice as high as the hedge in which it was planted. It is not known if the tree tie (which was still present in 2006) has been removed.

The photos in the 1997–2008 image sets were all taken from the north. Those from 2017 onwards were taken from the south.