3 years on from the illegal felling of Britain’s famous Sycamore Gap tree, new aerial images reveal how the stump is flourishing, and the basal sprouts that emerged are growing fast.
For those who didn’t read or weren’t aware, one of the UK’s most famous trees—a 150-year-old sycamore growing in a gap along the Roman-era Hadrian’s Wall—was cut down by vandals in 2023.
It was one of the most photographed trees in England, and a symbol of the North. The vandals’ chainsaw made a clean cut which arborists supposed at the time may have the potential to allow the tree to regrow.
Now the stump, located in Northumberland, has grown a thick ring of new shoots which are between two to three feet tall.
“These flourishing shoots are really encouraging and show that the special measures we’ve taken—including reducing soil compaction around the roots and limiting human disturbance—are paying off,” said Andrew Poad, General Manager for the National Trust at Hadrian’s Wall.
“We’re grateful to all the visitors who, through the care they’re taking, are supporting our efforts to protect the tree and give it the best possible chance to thrive.”
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As the tree regrows, the Trust continues to work with partners and local communities to celebrate the tree’s legacy, which has involved 49 saplings grown from the tree’s seed, distributed to communities across the UK.
With the tree’s deep established roots, biologists estimate it could take as little as 150 years, as ironic as that sounds, to grow back to something like its former size, while hikers could be sitting under the shade of its branches in as little as a decade.
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