Cheapside Plane: Possibly the Oldest Tree in the City of London

Walking through the Square Mile there are plenty of green spaces, filled with plants, shrubs and trees, which bring nature to this hub of London life. One tree in particular, though, stands out. 

On Wood Street, Cheapside, stands a 70 foot London Plane (Platanus × acerifolia), on a small plot of land surrounded on three sides by buildings. So how old is it and how has it survived fire, redevelopment and war?

Research shows that this tree has stood for over 275 years, although it could be much older. Regardless, this still makes it, quite possibly, the oldest tree in the City of London.

The tree stands on a small plot that was once part of St Peter Cheap, one of the churches that did not survive the Great Fire of 1666. 

The earliest mention, is from 1797, when Wood Street is mentioned in William Wordsworth's poem 'The Reverie of Poor Susan'. Although he doesn't specifically mention the tree, he mentions a thrush that hangs at the corner of Wood Street.

However, in 1846, the Sun newspaper, not the one that is still in print today, published the following article that does mention the tree:

"It is a singular fact that at the present time there are two crows nests in a lofty tree at the corner of Wood Street, Cheapside; the birds are mated. One day last week a furious fight took place between the whole four of them, which ended in the partial demolition of one of the nests. The damage has been since repaired..."

In 1910 the then occupants of the building, over which it towers, L & R Wooderson, Hosier, advertised their address as "123 & 124 Cheapside (under the tree)".

The tree has listed status and is protected by a Tree Preservation Order, which makes it an offence to damage, prune, or remove it without permission.There is also a clause in the lease of the buildings, on the corner, that prevents construction higher than one story on the adjoining site, to ensure the tree's survival.