To creatively develop Halesworth’s Biodiversity Action Plan (Baseline to 5-10 year strategic plan) and to co-operatively share and support neighbouring parishes with their BAPS.
Halesworth Heritage Trees as part and parcel
Halesworth Heritage trees
Heritage trees are a visible value system (equating Heritage Trees with a Georgian House for example) and an established and successful community outreach project. Originally inspired by Richard Woolnaugh’s 2012-4 Heritage Tree worked up with Halesworth in Bloom, and handed to me just before Richard died. (Don’t forget the view, Rachel). Melbourne Urban Forest is an paradigm example of an Urban tree record, in which you can click on a tree and send it an email, and one comes back. It is an extension of community outreach, involving the people around trees to connect to them.
By establishing this dataset of Heritage Trees we hope to accomplish these aspirations:
- Being aware of the heritage and beauty of a tree. Aligning it with the status of a building to protect. Historic as well as biodiversity utility. Like Boundary Trees, old coppice stools. The stories behind them, Incorporated into Heritage Open days, Heritage Tree Walks. Old maps.
- Registered with East Suffolk Council as part and parcel of her Neighbourhood plan, this will afford a level of protection from potential developments
- Registered with the Suffolk Biodiversity Network, will also acknowledge the importance of these trees in our mosaic of biodiversity.
- A baseline of heritage trees, to be annually inspected annually for their well being
Observe, protect the elders and plant for the future
Age diversity. Like all living things, trees decline in health as they age. Trees that are in poor health are not as effective at providing environmental benefits, such as cooling the city, providing habitat or cleaning the air. So we must plan for succession. Observe, protect the elders and plant for the future. A resilient urban forest features age diversity, with species of varying life spans and growth rates.
Elements:
Web dataset and stories
Heritage Tree Book (2 copies one Library one council)
Heritage Tree Walk/Map
Adopt a tree (social media/poster)
Photo posts of 4 boundary trees
Social media – a tree a week/month
There are 5 main geographical area of the town, which include the main arteries into the town:
– Town Park
– Millennium Green
– Cemetery
– Church
– Norwich Road
– Bramfield Road
– Walpole Road
– Wissett Road
– Holton Road.
H1 – Heritage including boundary and veteran trees (30) individual page
Adopt a tree. Ability of community to email an image or information of an H1 tree to add to the page on the tree eg Swan Lane Oak. eg Sweeney’s memorial willow. In this way we can record the tree over time and over seasons. The community are involved in a tree, relate to it, their name and date beside the record of the tree. Ability of community to email additional information to add to any of the data set.
H2, including trees of merit and or trees which need protecting (70) Typically these may include those recently planted
MEM – Memorial Trees – trees which were planted to commemorate an event or person.
individual page story of each personMemorial trees each have a page (with a story of each event or person)
Adopt a tree
Encourage community to adopt a tree. To take photos 4 seasons, same position, document it’s health and wellbeing.
Photo post of 4 boundary trees
4 photo-posts on boundary trees, inviting anyone to take a photo and send to web. Bar code with where to send, automatic upload possible.
Heritage Tree Resources:
Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
The Government Heritage Trees Bill [HL] private members bill is here
Wenhaston Heritage Tree report (2023) compiled by Alan Miller is here
Memorial Trees – recorded 2023
Planning authorities definition of trees
‘A’ Category Trees (Trees of high quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 40 years):
T3 & T15 Oak are mature native trees; they are traditional landscape elements which contribute to local landscape character and are recorded as ‘A2’ & ‘A3’ categories (high landscape and cultural value).
‘B’ Category Trees (Trees of moderate quality with an estimated remaining life expectancyof at least 20 years): The T14 ash is a large lapsed-coppice which is also of high landscape value, but it has ash die-back and is therefore recorded as ‘B2’ category (moderate landscape value). The native hedgerows and hedgerow trees on the northern, western, and part of the southern boundaries provide screening and enclosure and contribute to landscape character
and are likewise recorded as ‘B2’ category.
‘C’ Category Trees (Trees of low quality with an estimated remaini
Law and protection of trees
Conservation Area/TPO/Heritage Tree list in Neighbourhood plan.
If they are inside Conservation area, no extra protected needed.
If Planning is requested an alert will come up and if in any threat, Council can offer protection at that moment.
Halesworth’s Neighbourhood plan encompasses and acknowledges the Heritage Trees of
Halesworth.
1. MAPs and Resources
a. Map of Halesworth showing open spaces . Ability to click on each open space which leads to a page about each area
b. Map of context of green belt around eg Millennium Green
- Opergy Report on Green spaces and their importance
- Canopy cover, urban forest’s ability to produce benefits for the community and the environment. Increasing canopy has been identified as one of the most cost efficient and effective strategies for mitigating the urban heat island effect and adapting to climate change. We can measure canopy cover and predict futures with and without planting for the future.
c. Existing records of trees/plants/animals
d. Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
c. Neighbourhood plan
d. Waveney local plan
Background and terms of reference
Halesworth Conservation Area plan 2025
The Government Heritage Trees Bill [HL] private members bill is here
Wenhaston Heritage Tree report (2023) compiled by Alan Miller is here
Memorial Trees – recorded 2023
Defined officially as: a tree in England listed as such by Natural England on grounds of exceptional historic, landscape, cultural or ecological importance. We don’t have any of these in Halesworth but we have our own trees of worth.
Across the UK there are many special trees. They may be outstanding because they are old, provide important habitat, are the biggest of their species, are linked with an important historic event or have some exceptional cultural significance. Often it is obvious why they are so special – their appearance is so out of the ordinary or their heritage value is so long established. However, there are circumstances when we want to make it absolutely clear that a tree has special interest so for our project, we have called them ‘Heritage trees’.
Trees are officially aged as
Ancient, Veteran, Heritage, Champion, Notable, Mature, or young
Resources: Ancient Woodland Inventory
2025: the recent changes to the Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI), particularly the inclusion of woodland down to 0.25 hectares, and the improved recognition of ancient wood pasture and parkland, represent a meaningful step forward in how we value, understand, and protect our wooded heritage. It is a signal that policy is beginning to catch up with ecological reality. By acknowledging smaller ancient sites, the inventory strengthens their protection within planning and land-use decisions and provides a more accurate foundation for nature recovery at a landscape scale.
Ancient woodland is irreplaceable, at any size. These changes remind us that every wood counts — and that the future of our landscapes depends on how well we care for even the smallest remnants of the past.
Around Halesworth are the recognised ancient woods of Blyford Wood, Cheddistone wood, Heavingham Park
Planning authorities definition of trees
‘A’ Category Trees (Trees of high quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 40 years):
T3 & T15 Oak are mature native trees; they are traditional landscape elements which contribute to local landscape character and are recorded as ‘A2’ & ‘A3’ categories (high landscape and cultural value).
‘B’ Category Trees (Trees of moderate quality with an estimated remaining life expectancyof at least 20 years): The T14 ash is a large lapsed-coppice which is also of high landscape value, but it has ash die-back and is therefore recorded as ‘B2’ category (moderate landscape value). The native hedgerows and hedgerow trees on the northern, western, and part of the southern boundaries provide screening and enclosure and contribute to landscape character
and are likewise recorded as ‘B2’ category.
‘C’ Category Trees (Trees of low quality with an estimated remaining life expectancy of at
least 10 years, or young trees with a stem diameter below 150mm): The remainder of the trees
are recorded as ‘C2’ category (low landscape value) being either small, in poor condition, or of
exotic species of no special arboricultural, landscape or cultural merit.
Law and protection of trees
Conservation Area/TPO/Heritage Tree list in Neighbourhood plan.
If they are inside Conservation area, no extra protected needed.
If Planning is requested an alert will come up and if in any threat, Council can offer protection at that moment.
Halesworth’s Neighbourhood plan encompasses and acknowledges the Heritage Trees of
Halesworth.
Currently on Google MAP image
Current dataset March 2026
Below are the photographs and datafile for Halesworth Heritage Trees. The H2 trees are those which need protection for example are Juvenile, relatively recently been planted. The memorial trees are those planted to commemorate an event or a person.
Some Heritage Trees are ‘protected’, this means that no action can be taken on them with out the Council’s permission. Either they are in the Conservation Area or they have a Tree Preservation Orders on them.
Bramfield Road
Cemetery
Church
Loam Pit lane
Millennium Green
Town Park
Norwich Road
Old Station Road
Patrick Stead
Station Road
Swan Lane
Walpole Road Boundary Oak
Wissett Road Boundary Oak
Holton Road Boundary Oak
Trees in Memory / plaques
Eg Sweeney Willow
Catalpa / Durban Rd, which HIB could pay for.
INSCRIPTION: Catulpa tree
Planted to commemorate
Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee 2022
- Pedunculate Oak / Quercus robur / Town Park to replace one disintegrating
Right of path through park
INSCRIPTION:
Pedunculate Oak
Planted to celebrate the new Millennium
1st January 2000
- Acacia / corner of Broomfield Rd and Durban Close
Coronation Tree
1953/1955?
Dedication:
Acacia
Planted by the Urban District Council
to commemorate the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1955
BENCH PLAQUE
Jen Berry (1939-2022)
Environmental activist and campaigner (arrested 7 times)
who longed for snow, picked up litter and
rocked at The Cut, her Rolling Stone bag around her shoulder.
Google Maps and What3Words
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