Hadrian’s Wall and its Trees

A richly illustrated celebration of the trees that line Hadrian’s Wall, exploring their role in Roman life, art, and modern conservation. Scholars and artists reveal how wood and woodland have shaped this remarkable frontier – and how its trees continue to inspire today.

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.

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

• Edited by David J. Breeze
• Illustrated by Mark B. Richards
• Foreword by Tony Gates

'Bringing the story full circle, the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree also features in Hadrian's Wall and Its Trees with a report on the trial of the two men who were found guilty of the act, and an overview of dendrochronological work carried out on the tree by the Digital Humanities Lab at Exeter University. In case you were asking, it was 100-120 years old (CA 428), but the story of trees on Rome's northern frontier stretches back across almost two millennia.' – Current Archaeology (2025): Issue 431

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