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Sycamore Gap tree 'at least 120 years old' when it was felled
The Guardian
|September 04, 2025
Scientists have confirmed the age of the felled Sycamore Gap tree, adding weight to a theory that it was planted in the late 19th century by a landowner hailed as "the man who saved Hadrian's Wall".
Historic England has published the conclusion of an investigation by a team of experts who carried out the first dendrochronological, or tree-ring counting, analysis of the tree.
The evidence suggests the sycamore was more than a century old when it was felled and was almost certainly older, probably appearing in the late 19th century or earlier.
That would tie in with a belief held by the National Trust and others that the tree was planted in the late 1800s by the philanthropic, forward-thinking landowner John Clayton.
This story is from the September 04, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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