Discover the trees that made the cut – from a lonely tree in Glasgow to an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf
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You might think organisations and individuals are the typical recipients of awards. But this year’s competition from the Woodland Trust places trees in the limelight instead. Taking place every year, the contest celebrates the value of trees within the UK’s cultural history – from those that are local landmarks, a source of passion, or inspire creativity.
Ten trees have made the shortlist for Tree of the Year 2025, and you can vote until 11.59 pm on 19 September. The winner will be announced on 26 September.
Read on to discover the shortlisted trees…
1) The Borrowdale Yews – Seathwaite, Cumbria
Around 2,000 years old, this grove of yew trees was mentioned by William Wordsworth in his 1803 poem titled ‘Yew Trees’, describing them as having ‘huge trunks’ that were ‘upcoiling and inveterately convolved’. The famous yew trees have appeared in other works too, including watercolours, photographs and books.
DNA research has shown that these three yews all originated from the same tree.
2) King of Limbs – Savernake Forest, Wiltshire
Estimated to be around 1,000 years old, the branches of this tree were regularly cut down to encourage regrowth – a process known as pollarding – until the 19th century. Such activity has meant the tree has gained its characteristic long sprawling branches that give way to its name.
Radiohead’s 2011 album, King of Limbs, was named after this oak. The tree also influenced the album cover and other works by artist Stanley Donwood.
3) Lonely Tree – Llyn Padarn, Llanberis
This tree is often touted as a photographer’s dream for its location on the shore of a vast, glassy lake against the backdrop of large mountains. Its shape has contorted in response to extreme weather conditions, making it a symbol of resilience.
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So picture-perfect is the scene that it appeared in a 2021 Chromebook advert, and Netflix even blocked access to the site back in September 2024 to film major battle scenes for TV series The Witcher.
4) Wilfred Owen Sycamore – Edinburgh
The Wilfred Owen sycamore is located on the grounds of Edinburgh Napier University, but the site was once home to a military psychiatric hospital that young poet Wilfred Owen was admitted to back in 1917, after experiencing shell-shock on the Western Front. Owen would go on to become the most widely read poet of WWI. During his stay, Owen is believed to have met Siegfried Sassoon, who became his literary mentor and encouraged him to write.
The pair may have sat beneath the sycamore tree – estimated to be at least 100 years old – during their rehabilitation.
5) The Beatles’ Cedar Tree – Chiswick House and Gardens
Around 300 years old, the tree is one of several cedars in the grounds of Chiswick House. Queen Victoria, the Tsar of Russia and the Shah of Persia have been among its admirers.
However, the tree gets its claim to fame through featuring in a Beatles music video. The quartet recorded two films here in 1966, shot in colour and on location.
6) Tree of Peace and Unity – Dunadry Hotel, Antrim
Around 100 years old, this lime tree began as two trees which met together to form a single trunk. As such, the tree has become a symbol of harmony and hope. Young couples sit beneath the tree to be blessed with health and happiness.
The tree became famous after Tony Blair, David Trimble and John Hume met to broke peace in 1998, at the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
7) Knole Park Oak – Knole Park, Kent
At least 150 years old, this sessile oak towers at a height of more than 135 feet, making it the tallest sessile oak in Britain. Its appearance and location have prompted literary lovers to consider the oak as the tree mentioned in Virginia Woolf’s epic poem Orlando.
In its early pages, the protagonist Orlando walks ‘very quickly uphill through ferns and hawthorn bushes… to a place crowned by a single oak tree.’
8) Lollipop Tree – Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
The Lollipop Tree has been a popular subject for photographers over the years. In particular, it played a starring role in the 2019 film 1917, which follows two young soldiers on a mission to deliver a message to the frontline. The Lollipop Tree marks the end of the journey, with its entirety in focus for a full minute as the survivor, Schofield, slowly approaches it.
9) Argyle Street Ash – Glasgow
Around 175 years old, this ash tree stands alongside the tenements of one of Glasgow’s busiest streets. It has survived the Clydeside Blitz, the rise and fall of industry, and now resists ash dieback – a serious fungal disease first identified in the UK back in 2012.
In recognition of its cultural and ecological value to the city, the tree was the first in Glasgow to be protected by a tree preservation order.
10) Bradgate Park’s oldest oak, Leicester
Bradgate House was the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey, the ‘Nine Days Queen’, who took the title as the shortest reigning monarch in British history. Less than 50 metres away from the Tudor mansion, it is likely she could see the tree through her windows and may have played beneath its boughs during her childhood.
With an approximate age of 825 years, this English oak is just one of the many ancient trees situated on the Bradgate Park grounds.
