Great Warley - The Squirrels Care Centre (Essex)

Thanks to Jim for the information and photograph of this unusual Giant Redwood in Essex. Jim says "I may have a new sighting and pictures that you may be interested in (Great Warley Essex). It's a wellingtonia with four very large saplings surrounding the main tree. Great Warley is next to Little Warley where I read on your site about a Victorian lady possibly planting the Wellingtonia in Upminster, maybe she planted this one aswell! The tree is by an old country house originally called Coombe Lodge built in 1868, so I suppose it was probably planted then along with a fine cedar of lebannon the other side of the grounds. The house was apparently owned at one time by a relative of Mr. Heinz and the Krays. Now the building is currently a care home where I work. The tree is just on the verge of Foxburrow woods. There is another wellingtonia in the heart of the woods but when I went searching for it again with my camera I could not find it. I'm no expert on trees but do have a great interest, it seems to me the main tree was planted on quite a big mound so when the roots spread outwards the saplings must have just reached the surface and upshooted. The grounds are well above sea level, so when this tree does come of age I'm sure it will be seen from miles around."

A recent visit proved how difficult it was to find the second tree in the woods (shown in the right hand picture above), luckily Jim was on hand to point the way! The four "children" around the main tree ranged in girth from 1.53m - 2.8m. One of them is nearly as tall as the main stem. There are several other examples of this strange phenomenon, some also with roots exposed (or are they branches?), at Cambridge University Botanical Gardens, Shalstone Manor and Audley End.

Common Names and Latin Name	No.	Latitude and Longitude		OS National Grid	Elevation (above sea-level)	Height	Girth	Date Measured
		WGS84	OSGB36
Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia Sequoiadendron giganteum	1	N51.58906 E0.28035	N51.58855 E0.28201	TQ 58068 90264	276ft (84.15m)	28.8m	5.1m	March 2008
	2	N51.58757 E0.27987	N51.58706 E0.28153	TQ 58040 90097	--	25.8m	4.35m	March 2008
Girth was measured at 1.5m from ground.