‘Beloved’ Chichester Beech tree dies on Halloween night

Half of the beech tree split away in the high winds, and fell alongside the City Wall in Market Avenue. The remaining half had to be cut down, with the trunk now little more than a stump.

The huge beech tree had stood on earth which had originally formed the internal sloping bank of the Roman city Wall.

When first planted it would have formed part of the garden boundary of Cawley Priory, which once had been owned by the family whose most famous, or infamous, son was the regicide M.P. William Cawley.

It was he, who had signed King Charles’ death warrant in 1649.

In more recent times, this garden became the Cawley Priory car park.

It is notoriously difficult to date trees accurately, but this tree had stood there for well over 200 years.

Its total girth around its base made it by far the largest of any tree in Chichester.

Pollarded trees have their crown cut off at about six foot above the ground, to encourage new growth, which cannot be eaten by deer, as they are above the browse line.

For some years the tree has grown patches of plate fungi, which is a sign of incipient decay.

However, although the tree may have been experiencing some stress, during this summer of 2022 and despite the prolonged drought, its leaf canopy had been, a picture of health.

Andrew Berriman, author of ‘In Search of Chichester’ which spoke of the fallen tree said: “The native beech is the dominant tree of the chalky South Downs. Despite its great height, it can root very shallowly in just a few inches of soil, above the deep chalk.

“This gives it a great advantage over more deeply-rooted species of tree, but this also explains why so many beech trees fell during the Great Storm of 1987.

"A friend of mine whose house overlooks this beech has collected and planted some of its seeds, so that the tree will not be wholly lost to us.

"With luck these seeds will take root, and bring pleasure in future centuries to generations of Cicestrians yet unborn. Let’s hope so.”