{{No footnotes, date=October 2021
The Verdun trees are
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
and
horse chestnut
The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with species called buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with six species n ...
trees planted in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Acorns and chestnuts were collected from trees on the battlefield at
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
and sent to England to be distributed and planted as war memorials. Some were sold by the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll (20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned Cricklewood Studios and film production company Stoll Pictures, wh ...
. Others may have been brought back to the UK by Field Marshal
Lord French
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to ...
Sandringham Estate
Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estate ...
in Norfolk on 28 January 1920. Two Verdun oaks were planted in the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...
on Peace Day, 19 July 1919; one remains, but the other was removed in 2014.
Other Verdun oaks remain in:
* the
War Memorial Park, Coventry
The War Memorial Park is a large park of about 48.5 hectares in southern Coventry, England. The park was opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587 Coventrians who died between 1914 and 1918 fighting in the First World War. The landscaped ga ...
Pembridge
Pembridge is a village and civil parish in Arrow valley in Herefordshire, England. The village is on the A44 road about east of Kington and west of Leominster. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bearwood, Lower Bearwood, Lower Broxwo ...
, Herefordshire
*
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...
, Suffolk;
* Grange Park,
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...
*
Beaumont Park
Beaumont Park is a suburb of Huddersfield, in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England that is located between Netherton, Crosland Moor and Lockwood.
The housing in this area is situated around the periphery of a mediu ...
, Huddersfield, where there are two examples
*
Corby Castle
Corby Castle is an ancestral home of the Howard family situated on the southern edge of the village of Great Corby in northern Cumbria, England.
History
It was originally built in the 13th century, as a red sandstone tower house by the Salkeld ...
, Carlisle
*
Forbury Gardens
Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one o ...
, Reading
* near
Hale
Hale may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hale, Northern Territory, a locality
*Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory
Canada
*Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom
* Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria
*Hale, Greater Man ...
War Memorial, in Surrey
There are also Verdun horse chestnuts in
Beaumont Park
Beaumont Park is a suburb of Huddersfield, in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England that is located between Netherton, Crosland Moor and Lockwood.
The housing in this area is situated around the periphery of a mediu ...
, Huddersfield, and one horse chestnut – reportedly from a group of twenty – was planted in
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
in January 1976.
There are believed to be many other Verdun trees whose locations are not certain, including trees in
Walpole Park Walpole Park is a Grade II municipal park, situated in Ealing (West London). Currently governed by Ealing Council, it was initially the grounds of Pitzhanger Manor, the early 19th-century country home of Sir John Soane. It was acquired by Ealing ...
, Ealing, and in
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
and
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
.
Some Verdun trees have been removed, including one at Upton Lawn, Cheshire and one at Moorcourt Estate, Pembridge. An original Verdun oak tree in the Garden of Remembrance,
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
was later replaced by a tree grown from one of its acorns.
With the original trees approaching 100 years old, the Woodland Trust launched a project in 2016 to grow a second generation of Verdun trees.