Trees in Oxford

Oxford provides a vast array of settings for trees ranging from the historic college gardens, parks, rivers, streetscapes to modern business parks but the vast majority of trees are in private ownership in domestic gardens. The City Council seeks to conserve trees for their public amenity, environmental and historic value in the predominately urban setting.

Trees articulate Oxford's distinctive skyline of spires and domes and as such provide a seasonally changing foreground and frame to the landscape setting. From certain western viewpoints, the sylvan ridgescape of Headington provides a green backdrop to the city.  In lower lying land, ribbon belts of trees delineate the two rivers, associated streams, canals and meadows within the boundaries of the city.

Trees enhance and soften the scene by acting as a foil to architecture and this impact can be due to very small numbers or indeed individual specimens. For instance, the Sycamore sandwiched between All Souls and Queen's College punctuates the long gentle curve of the High Street. Apart from probably being one of the most photographed trees in England, the town planner Thomas Sharp described the tree '...as one of the most important in the world: without it, the scene would suffer greatly'.

Trees are caught up within the cultural landscape of the city and are important landmarks as well as inspiring authors and poets. For instance, the Poplars at Binsey along the River Thames were immortalised by Gerard Manley Hopkins with his 1879 poem 'Binsey Poplars Felled'. This still remains one of the best known poems written about tree loss in the English language. Poplars are fast growing and replacement plantings form the treescape today and frame the view across the wide expanse of Port Meadow.

Trees mark places and 48 street names throughout the city refer directly or indirectly to trees. Examples are Hollybush Row, Oakthorpe Road, Aspen Square, Plantation Road; more obscure is Botley Road which is derived from 'Bota's Grove'.     

Veteran trees are to be found in various places notably, Madgalen Deer Park and South Park, however the oldest tree in Oxford is thought to be the Yew tree at St. Mary's Iffley, estimated to be twice the age of the church at 1600 years old.

One of the most beautiful scenes heralding each spring in North Oxford is the blossoming of the Pissard's Plums, this is a long lived ornamental and many trees are now over 100 years old.  The combined tree diversity of the Botanic Gardens, University Parks, college and private gardens represents around an estimated 2500 different sorts, taking the range of species and varieties. 

Trees are critical to a healthy environment. The action of tree roots intercept groundwater and can reduce flooding and this effect is most apparent in the growing season. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis and tie up carbon in its woody tissues so that up to 50% of the dry weight of a tree is actually carbon. Trees are therefore intimately involved in the complex interactions of global warming, and can help reduce COČ levels. Finally, trees are cornerstones of ecology, and support a host of other life or biodiversity. For example, willows can support up to 350 other species such as fungi and invertebrates. Garden trees and hedges are valuable habitats for song birds within the urban environment and environmentalist Chris Baines has described gardens as 'service stations for wildlife'.

The future of Oxford's trees relies on good management of existing trees and new planting which needs appropriate choices in appropriate locations to reinforce Oxford's tree landscape. Tree Officers comment on new planting as part of the planning process. They manage the casework of applications for trees in Oxford's 16 Conservation Areas as well as maintaining the 300 or so Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) currently in force. TPOs can range from 1 tree to around 100 individual trees. All of this contributes to ensure that Oxford's landscape character is conserved.

Page last reviewed 7 Apr 2008