These venerable Sweet Chestnut trees in Buckingham Park in North Shoreham are estimated to have been planted around 1740. They were part of an avenue of trees that ran from Buckingham House (c.1655) on the west side of the park, across to the east side. The avenue appears to have been almost completely intact as late as 1937, as shown on the OS map of that year but today only 6 of the trees remain. The saplings shown here were propagated from nuts collected from these trees and this week I handed them over to the Council’s head arboriculturist to be grown on as part of a project that will reinstate the original avenue. The eastern and southern walls of the house, rebuilt in the early 1800’s, were saved from demolition in the 1960’s and are still standing, tucked away in Woodview, north of Old Shoreham Road.