Deeping - Market Deeping Church (Lincolnshire)

Thanks to Craig who wrote to tell us about this, and four other Giant Redwoods in Lincolnshire. He wrote; "Magnificent trees! I was born and grew up in Perth, Scotland many years ago. There are two local lads who are always associated with trees. One is David Douglas, the famous plant collector and botanist. The other was the somewhat lesser known Patrick Matthew , a farmer and forester. Although William Lobb is often given the credit for being the first to introduce the Redwood to Britain it would seem that Matthew in fact predated him, thanks to the fact that his son had sent him specimens from California. Matthew was a curiously talented man. He pointed out on one occasion to Charles Darwin that he had briefly outlined the theory of natural selection prior to Darwin’s Origin of Species. Darwin, a generous man, in the second edition of his book acknowledged Matthew’s work. Of course, what set Darwin apart was the wide and detailed investigations and observations he carried out in seeking support for his thesis."