The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in 2023 struck a deep chord across the world, reminding many of how trees define our landscapes and memories. Hadrian’s Wall and its Trees responds to that moment by celebrating the living and ancient trees that line the course of Rome’s northern frontier — and the enduring role of wood in its history.
Edited by David J. Breeze, with evocative line drawings by Mark B. Richards, this richly illustrated volume explores how trees have shaped the story of Hadrian’s Wall: from their presence in Roman construction and everyday life to their appearance in art, myth, and conservation today. Essays range from studies of ancient woodlands and Roman carpentry to reflections on individual trees that have become landmarks in their own right.
With contributions from archaeologists, artists, and heritage specialists, the book weaves together science, history, and emotion — demonstrating how trees, both ancient and modern, continue to give meaning to this extraordinary landscape. A testament to renewal and continuity, it invites readers to look anew at Hadrian’s Wall and the natural world that frames it.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Foreword – Tony Gates
Introduction – David J. Breeze and Mark Richards
My Journey to a Tree – Richard Beleson
Storm Arwen – Graeme Stobbs
Under the Sycamore Tree – Jim Crow
The Romans and Trees
Trees in Roman Literature – Andrew Fox
A Mythology of Trees – Sandra Walkshofer
The Caledonian Forest – Rebecca H. Jones
Hadrian and the Protection of Trees in Lebanon – Carole Raddato
A Coin Depicting a Tree – Richard Brickstock
Woodland
The First Northern Forest – Ian Jackson
An Ancient Grove – Ian Jackson
Wildwoods and Wildernesses – Sue Stallibrass
Strategy, Walls and Trees: Wark Forest from Highshield Crags – Al McCluskey
Trees and the Survey of Hadrian’s Wall – John Poulter
The Protection of Trees
Northumbria Veteran Trees Project – Nick Johnson
Ancient Woodlands Along the Wall – Dorothy Cowans
Woodlands on Hadrian’s Wall: Managing the Resource – Don O’Meara and Mike Collins
Trees Along the Wall
Drawn to Trees – Mark B. Richards
A Tree at the Wall – Eckhard Deschler-Erb
A Sentinel at Benwell – David J. Breeze
A Lost Tree at Denton – David J. Breeze
Down Hill – Sam Bithell
A Green Knoll at Chesters which Seemed to Invite Antiquarian Research – Frances McIntosh
A Solitary Thorn Marks the Site of Turret 29b – Katie Mountain
The Reverend Anthony Hedley’s Drive at Vindolanda – Peter Savin
A Venerable Symbol of Immortality: The Beltingham Yew – Paul Frodsham
A Lost Tree from the West Gate at Vindolanda – Alexander Meyer
The Vallum’s Tall Trees at Twice Brewed – Sarah Bell
Walltown – Abigail Cheverst
The Walltown Country Park – Abigail Cheverst
Medieval Trees on Hadrian’s Wall – Rachel Newman and Tony Wilmott
Turf Love – Peter Savin
A Scots Pine at High House – David J. Breeze
A Pear Tree at Lanercost and the Romans’ Taste in Fruit – Jacqui Huntley
Blackthorn in Wall Mile 59 – Humphrey Welfare
The Tree Line in Houghton – Susan Aglionby
Out West: A Tree at Port Carlisle – Jane Harrison
Sycamores at Maryport – Kelly Davis
Objects Created from Trees
The Contribution of Archaeological Science to Understanding Wood in Antiquity – Tony Wilmott
The Conservation of the Wooden Objects at Vindolanda – Patricia Birley
The Wood of the Vindolanda Writing Tablets – Caroline Cartwright
Transport and Communication
Hadrian’s Road to Britain – Erik P. Graafstal
Wooden Wheels on the Walls – Fraser Hunter
Wooden Walls: Hadrian’s Maritime Frontier – Paul Kitching
Bridging the North Sea – Tom Hazenberg
A Tree Provides Evidence of the Twentieth Legion at Carlisle – Roger S.O. Tomlin
A Friendship Forged at the Edge of Their World – Andrew Birley
Building
Building in Timber on Hadrian’s Wall – William S. Hanson
The Roman Army Cutting Down Trees on Trajan’s Column – Harry van Enckevort
Cutting the Frontier’s Timber – Alan Wilkins
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Tanja Romankiewicz
Obstacles on the Berm – Nicholas Hodgson
The Great Chesters pilum murale – Martha Lovell Stewart
An Unexpected Inscription – Matthew Symonds
Behind the Closed Door – David J. Breeze
Living and Dying
A Roman Travel Sewing Kit – Barbara Birley
A Tale of Two Turners: Trees, Places and Lived Experiences – Rob Sands
The Carlisle Wooden Sword – Mike Bishop
Pizza for Dinner, Anyone? – Jacqui Huntley
The Wooden Underworld: Toilet Seats – Marta Alberti-Dunn
Cremation Practices at Luguvalium/Carlisle – Matthew S. Hobson
Unknown Wood(s): Roman-period Wooden Jewellery – Tatiana Ivleva
Unknown Objects: Wood Woven into the Fabric of the Frontier – Amy Baker
Religion
Sculptured Trees from the Military Zone – Lindsay Allason-Jones
A God in the Woods: Cocidius at Risingham – Eleri Cousins
A Foreign Tree for a Foreign Cult: Pinecones in the Carrawburgh Mithraeum – David Walsh
The Goddess Coventina and her Sacred Grove at Brocolitia/Carrawburgh – Richard Hingley
Trees and Artists
Artists and Trees on Hadrian’s Wall – David J. Breeze
Two Puzzles at Blackcarts – David J. Breeze
A Presbyterian Minister’s Wooden ‘Reliquary’? – Roger Miket
The Book Plate of John Collingwood Bruce – David J. Breeze
The Carved Wooden Soldier at Segedunum/Wallsend – Bill Griffiths
The Sycamore Gap Tree: Its Future
Trees of Hope – Andrew Poad
Notes Made on Hadrian’s Wall – Catherine Ayres
Dendrochronological analysis of the tree in Sycamore Gap – Historic England Press Notice
Epilogue – Geoffrey Bennett
Further Reading
Acknowledgements and Credits
List of Contributors
About the Author :
Contributor List:
Susan Aglionby
Marta Alberti-Dunn
Lindsay Allason-Jones
Catherine Ayres
Amy Baker
Richard Beleson
Sarah Bell
Geoffrey Bennett
Andrew Birley
Barbara Birley
Patricia Birley
Mike Bishop
Sam Bithell
David J. Breeze
Richard Brickstock
Caroline Cartwright
Laura Charlton
Abigail Cheverst
Mike Collins
Nick Corble
Eleri Cousins
Dorothy Cowans
Jim Crow
Kelly Davis
Eckhard Deschler-Erb
Andrew Fox
Paul Frodsham
Tony Gates
Erik Graafstal
Bill Griffiths
William (Bill) S. Hanson
Jane Harrison
Tom Hazenberg
Richard Hingley
Matthew Hobson
Nick Hodgson
Fraser Hunter
Jacqui Huntley
Tatiana Ivleva
Ian Jackson
Nick Johnson
Rececca H. Jones
Paul J. Kitching
Al McCluskey
Frances McIntosh
Alex Meyer
Roger Miket
Katie Mountain
Rachel Newman
Don O’Meara
Andrew Poad
John S. Poulter
Carole Raddato
Mark Richards
Tanja Romankiewicz
Robert Sands
Peter Savin
Sue Stallibrass
Martha Lovell Stewart
Graeme Stobbs
Matthew Symonds
Roger Tomlin
Harry van Enckevort
Sandra Walkshofer
David Walsh
Humphrey Welfare
Alan Wilkins
Tony Wilmott
