Felled Sycamore Gap tree ‘to speak again’ in UK national memorial

The People’s Tree will turn the rings of the famous Sycamore Gap tree into sound and use its wood, stories and community artwork to create a lasting National Trust legacy for one of Britain’s best-known natural landmark

The felled Sycamore Gap tree is to “speak” again in a national memorial that will turn its rings into sound and use its wood to hold the memories of the people who mourned it.

The People’s Tree, by Helix Arts and George King Architects, has won the National Trust’s Sycamore Gap wood commission after a public vote and a final decision by an expert judging panel.

The tree, one of Britain’s most photographed landmarks, stood beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland until it was illegally felled in September 2023.

The winning proposal will use the tree’s rings to create an abstract soundscape, revealing its physical record of time, weather, growth and place.

The work will resemble a series of spinning wooden records on a turntable.

Communities along Hadrian’s Wall will also help create artworks inspired by sycamore seeds, using paper made from pulp taken from the tree itself.

During the workshops, people will share memories and stories connected to the tree and landscape.Those recordings will be stored as digital sound files on speakers hidden inside the seed forms.

The stories, ring sounds and seed artworks will be shown in immersive exhibitions across the country, with visitors invited to add new memories.

The project will culminate in a permanent sound sculpture somewhere accessible along Hadrian’s Wall.

The sculpture will include a time capsule containing some of the tree’s wood and a living archive of stories and nature sounds and will be completed by September 2027.

Cheryl Gavin, director of Helix Arts, said: “To be chosen by both the public and the judging panel feels phenomenal. This project comes from a belief that the legacy of the Sycamore Gap tree lives not only in its wood, but in the relationships, memories and moments of connection it sparked.

“Connecting and collaborating with communities along Hadrian’s Wall and across the UK is key, we want to create places where people can pause, listen and feel part of something shared—where loss becomes a starting point for reconnection and care.

“Acknowledging the impact of the loss of the tree nationally – we also wanted to find a way to resonate beyond the north-east, and we’ll do this through the digital swapping of stories to understand one another’s experience with the Gap and connection to nature.”

The project will now move into development, with Helix Arts and George King Architects working with the National Trust, local partners and communities along Hadrian’s Wall.

Sections of seasoned wood from the tree will be used with communities and local artists to create new artworks connected to nature, landscape and the tree.

The completed work will form part of a wider national programme responding to the Sycamore Gap tree.

George King, from George King Architects, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected for the Sycamore Gap commission. It is a real honour to be entrusted with responding to a place that means so much to so many people.

“We are especially excited to be working in collaboration with Helix Arts, and to have the opportunity to engage with communities across the UK, developing the project together and shaping it through shared stories, memories, and experiences.

“The tree as it was can never be replaced, but what we can do is create a place for reflection and connections. Drawing on our experience in exhibitions and installations, we aim to shape a thoughtful installation, to create a lasting legacy for future generations, that honours its meaning and gives people a place to reconnect.”

Annie Reilly, public engagement director at the National Trust and chair of the judging panel, added: “At the heart of the project is a dialogue between the tree and people.

“The public response to this commission has been extraordinary, reflecting just how deeply the Sycamore Gap tree mattered to people, everywhere. The People’s Tree proposal stood out for its generosity, sensitivity and ambition.

“It offers not a single answer to loss, but an invitation – to listen, to reflect, and to reconnect with nature and with one another. The panel was excited by the way this project places people and communities at its heart while creating a legacy that will be felt locally and nationally for years to come.”

The Sycamore Gap tree stood beside Hadrian’s Wall near Crag Lough in Northumberland and was among the most photographed trees in Britain.

The sycamore, also known as the Robin Hood tree after its appearance in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, grew in a natural dip in the landscape and became one of the best-known symbols of the North East.

It was illegally felled in the early hours of September 28, 2023, during Storm Agnes. Northumbria Police described the cutting down of the tree as a deliberate act of vandalism. The felling caused widespread anger and sadness, with many people describing the tree as part of their personal memory as well as the wider landscape.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, both from Cumbria, were later charged with criminal damage to the tree and to Hadrian’s Wall. Their trial began at Newcastle Crown Court in April 2025 and both men were found guilty the following month. They were sentenced in July 2025 to four years and three months in prison.

Despite fears that the tree would die, new shoots have reportedly appeared from the base of the stump, although experts have warned it could take well over a century before the tree recovers anything close to its former presence.

Seeds and cuttings were also taken from the tree, with saplings being grown for future planting.

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Main image: The People’s Tree by Helix Arts and George King Architects will turn the felled Sycamore Gap tree’s rings, wood and public memories into a national sound memorial. Credit: Helix Arts & George King Architects/National Trust/PA. Sycamore Gap background image: Clementp.fr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.