Submissions from Henfield and the surrounding parishes
The word tree comes from the Old English word treo/treow, which itself comes from a time when our ancient ancestors viewed their environment in a far more immediate and holistic way. It is ultimately derived from the Proto Indo-European drew-o/deru, a word meaning to be 'firm', 'solid', or 'steadfast'. The Latin arbor likely derives from the Proto-Indo-European herdhos, signifying 'height' or 'uprightness'.
All images are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)*
(*unless specified otherwise)
All images are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)*
(*unless specified otherwise)
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Trees of Henfield Past
Click below to view 
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The Lucombe Oak -
a Tree for a Neighbourhood Click below to view 
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Through Henfield Woods - submitted by Mike A, 2020
Enter our peaceful young wood on Henfield Common, courtesy of local musician and photographer Mike Ainscough - who has kindly allowed his video to be shared here for this project.
Enter our peaceful young wood on Henfield Common, courtesy of local musician and photographer Mike Ainscough - who has kindly allowed his video to be shared here for this project.
My Trees - submitted by Alan B, December 2020
'I climbed this holly tree at the eastern end of King James’s Lane, Henfield, as a young lad in the late 1950s, and claimed it as ‘my tree’. Not an easy tree to climb with its prickly leaves and mass of small branches. She has changed little over the years, but is now an old lady. She still looks very well and has a good crop of berries in her crown this year.
Say hello as you pass her by.' |
'At the western end of King James’s Lane in Henfield, hiding in the holly bush, is a sycamore tree with a forked trunk. I claimed this as ‘my tree’ in the late 1950s when as a young lad I climbed it. Mind you it was not much more than a sapling then and easily climbed by pulled myself up to stand in the fork of the tree. Now sixty years on no young boy could do as I did. As I enter the twilight years of my life my tree is still a teenager.
Say hello to my tree when you pass by.' |
The Marooned Willow - submitted by Robert G, December 2020
'This willow stands alone, surrounded by the seasonal flooding near Rye Farm Island. At their highest the waters submerge the willow's island completely, leaving it alone amongst the waves.'
An Oak for all Seasons - submitted by Steve B, February 2021
I had enjoyed these oaks for years. Iconic: their colours, shapes and textures changing with the light and the seasons. Majestic in leaf, striking in the harshness of winter, silhouetted by flaming sunsets, magical in the morning mist. Architectural features in the landscape set against the moody and ever changing pastels of the rolling Downs. Fresh leaved in the spring, a glowing haze of russet and amber in the fall.
Yet I never truly appreciated their significance until I looked at a map. The 1874 map. There they were, on that early Ordnance Survey record of Sussex, standing proudly beside Sandy Lane and along the footpath that leads to Batts Pond.
My generation was not the first to look in wonder on these trees. An unknown artist in the mid-1800s captured their youth in this drawing. The oaks watched the sandpits dug and filled on Sandy Lane, saw the windmill blow down in the storm of 1908, witnessed the railway come - and go - and experienced Henfield’s market gardens at their peak.
So in 2019 we secured Tree Preservation Orders on seven of them. Our children and grandchildren will enjoy them too.
Yet I never truly appreciated their significance until I looked at a map. The 1874 map. There they were, on that early Ordnance Survey record of Sussex, standing proudly beside Sandy Lane and along the footpath that leads to Batts Pond.
My generation was not the first to look in wonder on these trees. An unknown artist in the mid-1800s captured their youth in this drawing. The oaks watched the sandpits dug and filled on Sandy Lane, saw the windmill blow down in the storm of 1908, witnessed the railway come - and go - and experienced Henfield’s market gardens at their peak.
So in 2019 we secured Tree Preservation Orders on seven of them. Our children and grandchildren will enjoy them too.
Copy of a painting of Nep Town with windmill, unknown artist, approx. mid C19. Image: Henfield Museum
The Rosemount Silver Birch - I think that I shall never see a thing as lovely as a tree (even in December)
- submitted by Liz T, December 2020
- submitted by Liz T, December 2020
The Black Poplars - submitted by John W, Dec 2020
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My name is John Willis, and I have been involved with The Henfield Conservation Volunteers for nearly 25 years. To celebrate the new Millenium we were fortunate to obtain about six Black Poplar tree whips from Kew/Defra. These were then and almost certainly still, our rarest native British tree, and so Kew were keen to promote their distribution throughout the country. The reason for their demise are manifold including loss of suitable habitat and the ease with which they hybridise with non- native garden cultivars. Our trees were DNA tested for their genetic purity, and three suitable habitats used within the parish. In fact only three trees survived alongside the tributary of the River Adur on Broadmare Common. Twenty years on they now are beginning to dominate the bank of the stream and semi matured. I have managed to take cuttings from these and six years ago added two more young trees to those already on the stream bank Two more have successfully been transplanted on either side of the middle pond in The Tanyard. So Henfield will hopefully have these beautiful rare trees to mature and grace our landscape for decades to come.
This image was taken in 2017 with two original 2000 trees coming into leaf, with an offspring planted in 2015 in the foreground, on Broadmare Common, Henfield.' |
Discover more from the Sussex Wildlife Trust about the Black Poplar, this rarest of trees.
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The Grinstead Lane Oak - submitted by Alan B, March 2021
This fine oak stands on the field boundary along the ancient route of Grinstead Lane, connecting South View Terrace to the Dagbrook below. The top photo below shows it from Spring Hill. In Alan's words: 'This is what I call an impressive oak tree in Grinstead Lane. I measured the girth at 5.3m which makes it about 300 years old. See if anyone can better it.'
The Crawley Beauty, Benson Road - submitted by Mike A, March 2021
The tree is an old Sussex variety called a "Crawley Beauty", and the fruit is - according to your taste - a sharp eater or a sweet cooker! Benson Road was built in two developments between 1970 and 1976. We moved in to the second part of the development in 1976, which was on land which had been owned by Benson Coleman of Wantley Manor - hence the street name. The land had been an orchard and our tree, probably around 70-80 years of age, is a left-over from the orchard. Other houses in the road have a tree of some sort, but ours is the only one in full view, on the side lawn. When the Gill Orchard farm shop down Furners Lane was going strong, many years ago before the shop and orchard was sold, they had around 20 varieties of apple for sale - but no Crawley Beauty!
It's normal fruiting was every two years - a very full harvest in one year and a small one the next. This regularity has been knocked a bit sideways over the last 4 years or so - probably because of climate change - with huge crops every year. We're not sure what will happen this year (2021) after the severe pruning of 2020, but we're assured by the tree surgeon that it will produce normally.
Some people think that the Benson Road land was always part of Wantley Manor - not so. Our deeds tell us it was bought by Benson Coleman in the 1960s from a man in Lancing - purely as a development investment.
It's normal fruiting was every two years - a very full harvest in one year and a small one the next. This regularity has been knocked a bit sideways over the last 4 years or so - probably because of climate change - with huge crops every year. We're not sure what will happen this year (2021) after the severe pruning of 2020, but we're assured by the tree surgeon that it will produce normally.
Some people think that the Benson Road land was always part of Wantley Manor - not so. Our deeds tell us it was bought by Benson Coleman in the 1960s from a man in Lancing - purely as a development investment.
Henfield Common Woods - Birdsong Ambience, April 2020 - submitted by Robert G, Dec 2020