10th August 2020
The Preston twins – and then there was one….
The Preston Twins – and then there was one…
Preston Park, Brighton, East Sussex
As an ATF team, we have been framing our work within the themes of Recognise, Protect, Restore and Enhance. Julian Hight’s blog post below is about the iconic Preston Twin elms in Brighton, recognising their cultural and ecological heritage, and how and why their very survival has been significant. Julian also touches on the measures taken to attempt to protect the trees structurally and from Dutch Elm Disease.
The city of Brighton is blessed with an abundance of elm trees. For anyone with an interest in silva, it can appear as something of a revelation. Prior to the 1960s/70s, elm was almost as common a feature as oak across the British treescape. Yet today it is estimated that outside of Brighton, around only 1,000 mature specimens of the tree survive.
Brighton hosts around 17,000 elm trees. Many were planted in Georgian and Victorian times when the city became a fashionable seaside resort. The trees adapted well to the chalky soil and salty sea air.
In 1967, Dutch Elm Disease, or DED as it is known, is believed to have come to Britain on infected rock elm timber imported from North America. A microfungal disease, it is carried by the elm bark beetle, which feeds on the wood beneath the bark, spreading the disease as it moves between trees.
Twenty-five million elms were felled nationwide in an attempt to stem the disease, which, while implemented with good intentions, had the effect of devastating Britain’s native elm population. It has never recovered.
Brighton, however, took a different approach towards combating DED. The local authority pruned out infected branches at the first sight of infection, set bait traps for elm bark beetles at the city limits and dug trenches between neighbouring trees to prevent contagion through root contact. This, coupled with the natural physical barrier of the South Downs to the north, the English Channel to the south, a prevailing southwesterly onshore wind and an early warning helpline diligently used by local residents, enabled the region to retain much of its elm population.
At Preston Park, Brighton famously boasted two of the largest and oldest English elms in the world. Thought to be around 400 years old, the ‘Preston Twins’ stood majestically together, their rugged boles each measuring a princely 6.38m (20.93ft) in circumference. Once a common sight across Britain, the Preston Twins were the last of their kind.
In 1998, the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens awarded the city status as holder of the National Elm Collection. Eleven years later, on 5 May, two young elms from Hyde Park were planted adjacent to the pair, to ensure that their legacy continued.
For over 50 years subsequent to the DED outbreak, the twins prevailed. Then, during a storm in 2017, a large bough fell from one of the pair, exposing a chasm which revealed an entirely hollow trunk. Reduction pruning followed, and the elm appeared to recover. That is until 2019, when it was discovered that the tree was suffering DED to such an extent, that felling was deemed necessary to try and prevent the disease from spreading to its twin. It is thought that imported elm logs for local firewood brought about a recent acceleration rate of the disease.
In July, a trench was dug to sever connecting roots that linked the trees together. Then, in December, the great elm was felled and removed. Brighton had lost a national treasure, the last of its kind in the country.
The remaining shell of the bole at ground level was only a few inches thick in places, yet the thin, hollow cylinder had amply supported a vast trunk and crown for many years.
The surviving twin stands tall, in honour of its former sibling. I recommend a visit to this ancient wonder to celebrate its magnificent presence.
Words and photographs © Julian Hight
Elpida says:
Posted June 03, 2022 at 6:51 pm
DearJulian, I just stumbled across your text and wanted to let you know that I am restoring the diseased Twin and this has now been returned to its original location and reunited with its Twin, where it can be once again admired. We would like to spread the word as widely as possible as we are looking for help to finish its preservation and restauration. Here is a link to my website for more information: https://elpihv.co.uk/works/preston-park-gilded-twin/
Many thakns in advance, Elpida
Lin Roberts says:
Posted September 17, 2021 at 7:14 pm
It’s sad that we might loose the 2nd twin but I thing a long lasting idea that could be productive to the community many years from now.
Using the root part with the top removed, place inside, deep down a steel or impenetrable box with a heave grate on top. Make the whole thing safe and secure by people and use it as a wishing tree or community tree. People could drop their change if passing and in many years time it could be quite a profitable little investment to be decided what to be used for be the community.
Jess Green says:
Posted May 15, 2021 at 4:25 pm
I miss this tree so much. I walk past its spot almost everyday and it always makes me a little sad to see its empty spot. However I do believe that an artist, Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, has now been found who will turn the tree’s remains into an art piece that will be installed in its old spot. The tree is temporarily being moved to the Kemptown Walled Garden where it will be transformed. I can’t wait to see what beauty Elpida will create from this tragedy.
Elpida says:
Posted June 03, 2022 at 6:55 pm
Dear Jess,
Yes we are now back in Preston park please do come and visit us.Here is also a link to my website and a special page dedicated to the Preston Twin project, https://elpihv.co.uk/works/preston-park-gilded-twin/.
We are looking for help and any assistance and spreading the word as widely as possible would be most appreciated. Thank you Elpida
Julian Hight says:
Posted June 06, 2022 at 11:05 am
Elpida, this is very exciting news, and I can’t wait to see it. Could you keep us updated on the project here? Thanks.
Peter Bourne says:
Posted March 12, 2021 at 8:46 am
Hi. Reading your comments concerning the felling of the Preston Twin which ironically happened around the same time Covid-19 appeared in this country for the first time. The elm trunk was removed to the city council’s elm timber dump on the outskirts where it stands up to now. Most of the bark has fallen away from the shell and that “shell” has been in the sights of several artists for sculpture purposes. Elms are my thing as for the last 35 years I have been studying the elms of Brighton and Hove. I am a volunteer helping the city council with identification, plotting and assisting any way I can with the preservation of the National Elm (Ulmus) Collection as a member of Plant Heritage. I also assist with identifying hundreds of elms worldwide to which help with revising Wikipedia. If anyone in the ATF finds any elm and wants me and the Elm Research Group I am a member of, they can contact me on the email given. I look forward to hearing from you.
Julian Hight says:
Posted March 12, 2021 at 9:50 am
Thanks for the info Peter, please keep us posted re: development of any artist projects made from the elm timber.
David Whatley says:
Posted December 10, 2021 at 8:08 pm
Hi there, I am responding to your expressed interest in art/craft objects made from Elm. For some years past now I have been making ‘Objects of Desire’ from English Elm. Mostly from dead hedgerow specimens.
The form is in the shape of tusks or horns, hand shaped, scraped and polished with a ‘scrimshaw’ decorative effect from pyrography designs. I started this work in an attempt to draw attention to Endangered Species. Elm was an obvious choice of material. I live in Diss in Norfolk. The most endangered animal that was the focus of my work was the Dragon. Several complete ones were made, the largest one was 15ft long, and activated by the wind… a weather vane. Then production turned to ‘Body Parts’. These proved to be popluar and sold well as household ornaments. I am currently working on another Scrimshaw Elm Tusk. Let me know if you are interested . Yours sincerely, David Whatley.
Gavin Nicol says:
Posted September 06, 2024 at 11:59 pm
Hi Peter, we met in the late 90s and you kindly gave me a tour of some of the elms of Brighton. I’m a forester from Cornwall, I was about to head back out to Guyana. Today I just found a set of typed notes you gave me, in a punch pocket containing various biro-labelled leaves, still legible!
Just wondering whether you know anything about the Davey elm? There’s a patch of countryside near Penzance where many disease-free mature hedgerow trees of this type predominate. I’ve been propagating them from cuttings for the past few years – low success rate, but I have some successful ones growing. The mature trees have beautiful rounded, finely-twigged crowns, very distinctive indeed. I think they may be a hybrid form between U. glabra and U. minor (perhaps var stricta) – have you come across them at all and do you have any insights you could share please?
Best wishes,
Gavin Nicol,
St.Ives, Cornwall
Lewis White says:
Posted September 30, 2020 at 12:22 am
It’s great that Brighton has managed to hold on to a large number of mature elms, but it would have been helpful if this article had given at least an approximate breakdown into the numbers of various types of elm still present. I assume that there are actually very few English Elms, and quite a large number of Wych elms, plus some Plot Elms, Wheatley and Jersey and their Sussex variant. Presumably the Council has this information, for streets and parks . Another useful fact would be an idea of how many mature elms of each species fell victim to DED.
Julian Hight says:
Posted September 30, 2020 at 2:56 pm
Hi Lewis, thanks for the comment. This article was intended to be a celebration of Britain’s (possibly the world’s) largest/oldest English Elms, and a lament for the one lost. I wanted to draw attention to them as magnificent specimens, and tell their story. It was never intended to be a definitive study on elm (that would be impossible given the 1,000 word brief I received). However, there are plenty of resources where you might find the information you seek,
such as: http://www.brightonelmtrees.com
and: http://www.trees.org.uk/News-Blog/News/Map-of-Brightons-Famous-Elm-Trees-Launched
The remaining Preston Park Elm is of course a very special tree, and I hope you get to pay a visit.
Elpida says:
Posted June 03, 2022 at 6:50 pm
DearJulian, I just stumbled across your text and wanted to let you know that I am restoring the diseased Twin and this has now been returned to its original location and reunited with its Twin, where it can be once again admired. We would like to spread the word as widely as possible as we are looking for help to finish its preservation and restauration. Here is a link to my website for more information: https://elpihv.co.uk/works/preston-park-gilded-twin/
Many thakns in advance, Elpida
Charlotte says:
Posted August 23, 2020 at 5:49 pm
So sad to lose this beautiful tree. I visited it about 10 years ago and enjoyed sitting under its branches. They were full of samaras, little tassels of blossom, which I remember were blowing about in the wind. I hope its twin sister lives for many more years.
Charlotte
Hugh Milner says:
Posted August 10, 2020 at 3:10 pm
Regarding the elms in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne, Julian Hight does not mention the chemical that the trees were injected with all those years ago to prevent DED infection. The production of this chemical ceased some years ago and is thus no longer available to save any elms.