100. Crusader Cypress

I have something very special for my hundredth tree: an astonishing and ancient tree in West Sussex.

An old conifer grows in the churchyard of St James, but, contrary to expectations, it is not a yew. Instead, this West Sussex country church has a very, very old Italian cypress growing in front of its porch. The tree appears as if it has been transplanted from some arid Pelponessian hillside, sun bleached for centuries. According to legend, it was planted by a returning crusader, perhaps a thousand years ago. 

Species details

Italian cypress
Cupressus sempervirens

Where to find it

St James, Birdham, Chichester PO20 7HG
///workouts.energetic.shook | 50.796343, -0.832544

Italian cypress notes

Mention Italian cypress, and for many an image of rocket shaped trees forming an avenue leading to an ancient Tuscan villa may spring to mind. But, in nature, these long-lived conifers are not so regular, and individual plants can exhibit quite different forms. The slim silhouette humans have favoured for gardens and landscapes is just the neatest within a spectrum of forms from pencil to unkempt bottlebrush. As trees grow older, even if they start out nearer to the former, the rigours of age and environment are likely to see them develop into something more like the latter. 

Urban Tree Festival – save the dates!

May is not far off, and so it will soon be Urban Tree Festival time. The Festival runs 11-19th May and I will be involved in several events throughout the nine days including guided walks around London parks and estates, a film screening and a discussion about elm trees in Brighton. The full programme has not yet been published, but it should appear next week.

In the meantime, here are a couple of things that you can book onto already…

12th May 17:00 – The Street Tree x Fruity Walks with London National Park City

Join me and Divya Hariramani (aka Fruity Walks) for an exploration of the City of London followed by a film screening at the National Park City Visitor Centre on Fleet Street.

Find out more and RSVP here. 

18th May 15:00 – Fantastic Elms and Other Amazing Trees

I’ll be talking about great trees in Brighton as part of a panel including Kate Sheldon the CEO of Trees for Cities. The event will be chaired by David Shreeve of the Conservation Foundation.

Find out more and book here.