The grand lime tree in the cemetery

Over the last few days or so, I have had staff at the cemetery clear away the tangle of undergrowth at the base of one of the tall lime trees we have in the grounds.

These trees, I calculate, were planted in the land in the years 1800-1810 during the reign of King George III. The tree as seen in the accompanying photo is over 4.3 metres in girth and around 70 feet tall.

Altogether, we have five such lime trees and I do not recall seeing any other lime trees in the village.

In addition to these very noble trees, we also have a superb specimen of a Lebanese cedar – planted around the year 1770 – before the American War of Independence and also in the reign of King George III ( he was on the throne for 60 years!).

It was a big fashion then to plant this tree and Capability Brown was keen to place these superb specimens in the huge gardens he created in England.

The land on which they stand was purchased from the executors of the Late John Knight Armstrong in 1874 at a cost then of £650 for two acres – in today's money some £30,000 – quite a lot for two acres!

The chapels were built the same year at a cost of £850 then – a good price and in today's values of around £45,000. The builders were not well rewarded; imagine what that would cost to build today! The cemetery opened for business that year.

Ralph Warburton
Audlem Cemetery Board

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