101. Churchill Gardens Palm
Formerly the Millbank Palm, a thriving Canary Islands Date Palm has been moved from a central London roundabout to a lawn in Pimlico.
The Millbank Palm was an unlikely sight, growing as it did on a busy roundabout on the north side of Lambeth Bridge. Road improvements meant that its location was no longer tenable, and with admirable foresight, TfL, who are responsible for London’s main roads, decided that it was a tree worth saving and moved it a few hundred metres to a new home on the Churchill Gardens Estate. The tricky, and no doubt costly operation occurred in December last year, and in preparation the tree was relieved of many of its fronds. This has allowed us to see just how much height the palm has gained: close to two metres. Not bad for a tree that hails from the same latitudes as the Sahara.Â
Species details
Canary Islands date palm
Phoenix canariensis
Where to find it now
Churchill Gardens Estate, London SW1V 3JF
///swear.visits.cherry | 51.485379, -0.140051
The Millbank Palm
I wrote about the same tree when it was in its original location in June last year:
Join me on a tour of Churchill Gardens
During the Urban Tree Festival, I will be leading three walking tours of the Churchill Gardens Estates, one of the greenest and most admired modernist housing estates in London. We’ll be looking at lots of rare and fine trees on the estate and we will call in to see the palm tree.
Find out more about the tours and book tickets on the Urban Tree Festival website
Yank here! What an unmitigated delight to discover your site! Western Oregon where I live is home to many fine historic trees and one of our neighborhood trees, a seventy foot white oak I think was subject to being cut down to make room for some new row homes. Our neighborhood association staged a weeks-long protest and actually won! It was a battle though- at one point the developers sent two guys with chainsaws to girdle the tree at night, but we had people camping out on the lot who stopped that! Now it's been over twenty years and the "Good Old Tree" is still standing!
I was so pleased to read this! I am a Westminster resident and I thought the Palm tree had just been chopped down - I didn't realise it had been given a new home. I will pass on the good news to my friends about this and your tour of the Churchill Gardens which looks great. Thank you!