Britains Largest Beech Tree

At the back of 47 Sheep Street there was a Copper Beech tree which was said to be the largest in Britain, and possibly in Europe.

This tree has a suspected 200 year history and it may have been planted during the time of Dr William Kerr who built and lived at the property and founded the General Hospital.

The tree came under threat from a number of directions. Firstly, the tree was suffering from a fungal infection which sadly weakened the tree. The result was that the tree became very dangerous as branches could fall at any moment.

Secondly the council, without realising the significance of the tree set about cutting it down in 2001 but the people of Northampton saved it from destruction. A short fence was then erected around the tree at the cost of £1,500 to prevent potential people wandering beneath it.

The tree was severely cut back before it finally fell during a storm in September 2007. The photo shown is what is left of this magnificent tree (as of October 7th 2007) and is being cleared away.

If anyone has any photos of this tree before it fell we would be very grateful. You can view and aerial photo on Google maps which at least shows the huge canopy (Click for map).