Sycamore Gap: Boy, 16, arrested after iconic tree at Hadrian’s Wall ‘deliberately felled’

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after one of the most photographed trees in the country was cut down.

The tree at Sycamore Gap, next to Hadrian’s Wall and close to the village of Once Brewed in Northumberland, was made famous when it appeared in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.

The 16-year-old boy is being held in police custody and is said to be assisting officers with their enquiries.

Superintendent Kevin Waring, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is a world-renowned landmark and the events of today have caused significant shock, sadness and anger throughout the local community and beyond.

“Given our investigation remains at a very early stage, we are keeping an open mind.

“I am appealing to the public for information to assist us – if you have seen or heard anything suspicious that may be of interest to us, please let us know.”

The Northumberland National Park authority said: “[We] can confirm that sadly, the famous tree at Sycamore Gap has come down overnight.

“We are working with the relevant agencies and partners with an interest in this iconic North East landmark and will issue more details once they are known.”

The public has been asked not to visit the site, near Crag Lough, “whilst we work with our partners to identify what has happened and to make the site safe”.

‘Shocked and saddened’

The National Trust, which owns the land, said it was “shocked and saddened” by the felling of the tree, which was voted English Tree of the Year in 2016 in the Woodland Trust’s awards.

Andrew Poad, the trust’s general manager for Hadrian’s Wall and Tyne Valley, said: “The tree has been an important and iconic feature in the landscape for nearly 200 years and means a lot to the local community and to anyone who has visited the site.”

One expert said he believed that it was unlikely the tree could be saved.

John Parker, chief executive officer at The Arboricultural Association, told Sky News: “Coppicing [where a tree is deliberately cut near to its base] is something used in the management of trees and is a traditional method.

“But with a tree that old and a cut that big, the shock will probably kill what is left of the tree.

“There is a chance you might get shoots at the bottom – but the tree will never be able to re-establish itself to the way it was before.”

Mr Parker, who has worked with the association since 2008 and has a degree in arboriculture, described the tree’s felling as “absolutely terrible to see”.

North of Tyne mayor, Jamie Driscoll, said it would ultimately be up to the National Trust, as the owners of the land, to decide what to do with the tree.

He told Sky News: “I have heard suggestions that the wood from the tree could be used to make some kind of monument.

“Whether it is possible to take a cutting or a graft from the tree and replant it, that will take an arborist with more technical skill than I have to come up with these suggestions – but certainly we will be doing something.”

‘Pretty devastated’

Brendon Hayward proposed to his wife Sinead in January 2019 beneath the tree.

The couple, who live in the area, married in September 2021 and have a 15-month-old son, and another baby on the way.

“The tree was precious to me because I’d hoped we could revisit it as a family as our children got older,” he told Sky News.

“I chose the place to propose because the tree would grow with time and hopefully be there in 50 or 100 years. I’m gutted.”

People on social media expressed their sadness and anger over the incident, with many calling it “horrific” or “sickening”.

The tree stood in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall, with the Roman Milecastle 39 just to its left, and is looked after by both Northumberland National Park and the National Trust.

Photographer Steven Lomas wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I can’t even begin to describe how sad I am that the most beautiful and famous tree in England, Sycamore Gap, has either been cut down or blew down.

“I am pretty devastated that the place I love most in Northumberland is essentially no more.”

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Police and crime commissioner for the Northumbria region, Kim McGuinness, said: “I’m devastated that the famous Sycamore is gone. That tree was ours. An iconic North East landmark.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.