Castlewellan Park’s Giant Redwood Shortlisted for the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year

Newry Mourne and Down District Council is delighted to announce that the Giant Redwood in Castlewellan Park has been shortlisted for the Woodland Trust's Tree of the Year competition for 2018.

Newry Mourne and Down District Council Chairman, Councillor Mark Murnin said, “It is gratifying to have one of our most venerable trees nominated for this prestigious award. I have seen this tree many times, and it is truly magnificent. The Giant Redwood attracts visitors from around the world, and is much loved by local families.

“We were thrilled when the Holm Oak at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor was crowned Northern Ireland’s Tree of the Year in 2016 and it would be wonderful if another tree within the Council area won this year.

“I hope everyone who lives in our district goes online to vote for this tree.”

The Giant Redwood has long been associated with Castlewellan Castle, back to the 1850s when the castle was built. The tree’s history is linked to all the plant hunters and explorers of the time, who risked their lives bringing back exotic plants from thousands of miles away.

Castlewellan Park’s tree comes from the very first Giant Sequoia seeds brought back to England from California in 1853. It was the third Earl Annesley who obtain ten small samplings from England in 1856 and planted some of them in the Walled Garden, which was their family home at the time.

How this tree grew to have 19 trunks is a bit of a mystery, but there is no doubt it is a remarkable tree!

For the past two years the Council has been working with Forest Service on plans to restore the Walled Garden in Castlewellan Forest Park, along with improvements in the Grange, as part of a wider plan. Raising the profile of this specimen tree and the garden will help to emphasis the importance of the tree collection as a whole.

To vote please go to www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/treeoftheyear. Make sure to place your vote before the competition closes at 9am on 8 October.