Gravestone-encircled Hardy Tree falls in London | Thomas Hardy
Gravestone-encircled ‘Hardy Tree’ falls in London
The tree became a powerful symbol of life among death after the novelist and poet stacked gravestones around its base in the 1860s
The Hardy Tree, named for the writer who stacked gravestones around the base of the ash when both man and plant were young in the 1860s, has fallen down.
The tree, which stood in the Old St Pancras Churchyard in London, was surrounded by dozens of headstones that were placed at its base while engineering works were being undertaken on a railway line. It became a prominent image of life among death.
Thomas Hardy, not yet the celebrated writer he would become, was employed as a young architect in the office of Arthur Blomfield, in Covent Garden, London. The firm got the commission from the bishop of London to disinter a large number of graves from Old St Pancras cemetery. The Midland Railway was about to thunder its way through to what is now the Kings Cross–St Pancras station complex and it needed the consecrated earth for its rails.
Hardy received the instruction for mass exhumation and decent reburial elsewhere. The church’s website called the tree a “monument to the railway encroachments of the 19th century”.
Images appeared online of the fallen tree on Tuesday.
A Robin redbreast sings it heart out in song atop the stump of the fallen historic Hardy Tree in St Pancras Gardens - Somewhat poetic pic.twitter.com/GUzdLXT9Tm
— Simon Lamrock (@SimonLamrock) December 27, 2022In July, the Camden New Journal reported that the council had warned the tree was likely to fall, having been weakened by a storm. “We are looking at ways to commemorate this tree, and its story, when it does eventually fall.
“The council recognises the importance of the veteran Hardy Tree, both for our local communities and nationally, which is why we’ve taken measures over the last eight years to manage this stage of its lifecycle, keeping it safe for visitors,” a town hall statement read.
“Unfortunately, following the storms earlier this year, the tree has moved and there is an increased risk that it will fall, and as a precaution we reduced the crown to ensure there were no risks to those visiting the churchyard.”
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