How 150-year-old Sycamore Gap is being 'saved' by science following brutal arrest of men who felled iconic tree
To quote Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, "Life, uh, finds a way."
That's hopefully the case for the Sycamore Gap tree, as scientists are working to save the natural landmark after it was felled in September 2023.
Located next to Hadrian's Wall in the United Kingdom, the Sycamore Gap tree has become synonymous with the British countryside, featured prominently in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and won the 2016 England Tree of the Year award.
On September 28, 2023, Northumbria Police described "an act of vandalism" after discovering the felled tree.
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Two men from Cumbria were arrested and charged with criminal damage, although the trial only ended with a guilty verdict in May 2025.
While Daniel Michael Graham and Adam Carruthers now face up to 10 years in jail, there are hopes that their damage to the iconic tree won't be permanent - although it'll take a lot longer than 10 years to get it back to anywhere near its former glory.
In March 2024, BBC News reported how new life has already been forged from the scene of devastation, with the outlet seeing new shoots when visiting the secretive National Trust center that's protecting the tree's seedlings.
After the tree was felled (in just three minutes), the National Trust was able to collect young twigs and seeds that fell to the ground, quickly rushing them to the top-secret facility.
Located somewhere in Devon, the center feels a bit like the UK's answer to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault as it holds genetic copies of trees that includes the famous apple tree that Sir Isaac Newton is said to have sat under, as well as a 2,500-year-old yew that apparently watched over King Henry VIII's relationship with Anne Boleyn.
As soon as the tree came down, local horticulturist Rachel Ryver jumped into action to save the samples and get them to the nursery before they dried out.
Back then, the National Trust was still figuring out what to do with the saplings, with Andy Jasper, director of gardens and parklands, suggesting they could be given to schools and communities to grow their own Sycamore Gap trees.
20 pieces were grafted, which involves binding fresh roots with living twigs that include buds of the same species. Knitting the two together will hopefully make a larger young tree. Jasper explained: "It's a bit Frankenstein-esque - adding body parts onto something else, making a hybrid. But it's worked for hundreds of years."
It will apparently take up to eight years to grow a sapling replica of the Sycamore Gap tree, leading to a small tree in under 15 years, an adult tree in up to 25 years, but a whopping 100 years for it to get anywhere near its former glory as a mature tree.
Importantly, if the stump left at the site doesn't regrow, one of the saplings could be used to replace it.
Thankfully, there are already signs of life, with a separate BBC article noting how there have been signs of regeneration.
In August 2024, National park ranger Gary Pickles found shoots growing from the site: "I've done this walk several times over the last year, but this time it was different. There was something new, the trunk was showing signs of regeneration."
Cheering the idea that the Sycamore Gap tree's life wasn't ended when it was brutally felled, Pickles concluded: "I had consigned the tree to history and so I am amazed and delighted that it may have a future after all and is making a go of it."