Sycamore Gap tree 'stood for a century'

THE beloved Sycamore Gap tree could have been as old as 120 when it was savagely and illegally felled two years ago.

- By Rebecca Speare-Cole

The tree which stood in a natural dip next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was analysed by a team of experts from Historic England — the public body that protects the country’s environmental heritage.

Researchers believe it is likely to have appeared in the landscape in the late 1800s.

The tree was deliberately cut down overnight in September 2023, prompting a national outcry and a police investigation.

Earlier this year, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were found guilty of its illegal felling and sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Historic England said its team took a slice from the cross section of the trunk, before wrapping and transporting it to its national science centre in Portsmouth.

The experts counted the tree rings, arriving at an estimated 100 to 120 for the two main stems, which were about a metre off the ground.

Rings each typically indicate a year of growth, meaning the tree is at least a century old.