Easton-in-Gordano - St. George's Church (Somerset)

Giant Redwood - October 2021

Thanks to Annie for sending this photographs of a Sequoiadendron giganteum in the Churchyard of St. George's Easton-in-Gordano. Annie wrote that it is; "not a tall tree as the top seems to have suffered storm damage at some time. The lower branches swoop down almost to the ground and then curve upwards ." Yes Annie, that classic "flat-top" does point to a loss of leader at some stage and the swooping lower branches are plain to see. There are a couple of Giant Redwoods across the country where the branches have rested on the ground, rooted, and subsequently grown upwards as new trees in their own right. An example can be found at Somerleyton Hall in Lowestoft, and another at Shalstone Manor in Buckinghamshire. Although Shalstone Manor is a private residence and therefore the trees are not readily accessible, Somerleyton Hall gardens are open to the public during the Summer and their Giant Redwood with the swooping branches is difficult to miss, being at the entrance to the gardens.