The trees of Canterbury City Cemetery

Tim Offord: Tree survey FAQs

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What is the tree survey?

I have begun studying and cataloguing the notable tree collection at the cemetery and wanted to outline my goals and approach so everyone is informed about the work. I encourage any feedback, as identification errors have occurred in the past, and the documents and plans that I am putting together will be able to be edited and kept up to date by future researchers. This process will cover many months as I record throughout the seasons. It is often difficult to be precise, as many larger trees have identifying features needing binoculars.

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Can you tell us a bit more about background of the cemetery and why the trees have become such an important part of it?

The cemetery extends to about 24 acres in total. About half of this is the original Victorian site fronting Westgate Court Avenue, which is closed for new burials. The north east extension half is more open with space for new interments but with far fewer trees.

The cemetery has several large trees, including giant redwoods and sequoias that date from the 19th century, plus some large beeches, sycamores, and pines that are among 20th century plantings.

During the 1990s, a programme of tree planting took place in the old cemetery, and a wide variety of young trees, many of North American origin, were planted by the Parks and Open Spaces Department. Many of the more vigorous species are now mature and have reached 20 to 30 metres in height. The plantings were roughly grouped. There is a large collection (of around 40 species) of North American oaks, walnuts, and hickories, as well as nettle trees, Japanese cherries, magnolias, and more.

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How did you find out so much about the history of the trees in the cemetery?

The Parks and Open Spaces Department have been very helpful in giving me access to an old database of Latin names of trees in each alphabetical area of the cemetery. However, a lot of the data is difficult to tally with what is on the ground today; some trees have died or been replaced, and there are no map references for positions. A few of them are also plainly wrong. It does, though, provide a good starting point.

A second resource is a survey made by the national charity, the Tree Register, between 2013 and 2019. They recorded the girth and height measurements of 140 of the approximately 500 trees at the cemetery and designated four as Category B Champion Trees (meaning they are outstanding examples of their type in the British Isles, as mentioned in the explanation of Champion Trees that follows this tree survey overview).

Crucially, the Tree Register database includes OS map coordinates. This has been very useful. However, the trees they surveyed were selected arbitrarily across the site and several interesting specimens were not recorded. Also, in the intervening years, some trees have been lost or replaced.

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What is the objective of this massive undertaking?

My goal is to record the trees on a handwritten plan for each section, giving labels and approximate positions of each significant tree. This plan will be accompanied by a table detailing the map coordinates, common names, some basic information, and photographs to show the distinguishing features for most of them. This will be stored on a Word document to enable updating.

I hope it may be possible for the handwritten plans and tables to be compiled into an illustrated booklet at some point in the future. By combining professional graphic design with the findings from this research, the booklet will ideally provide interested visitors with an accessible guide that is not too technical. Ultimately, the completed tree survey project will create a valuable resource that can enable people to fully appreciate the extraordinary collection of trees at the Canterbury City Cemetery.

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