Some time ago the Friends of Lewes received a bequest to fund the planting of trees in Lewes. This encouraged the late Paul Millmore to conceive the idea of creating a Lewes urban, or town-wide, arboretum consisting of existing tree stock in the town along with additional plantings, integrated by means of a walking guide and narrative and perhaps other, interactive, interpretive materials. We’re now moving forwards with this project.
We successfully sought a partial grant from the South Downs National Park Authority to help fund a tree survey to establish the existing significant stock in the town and to recommend potential planting sites and species. This survey is complete: a Google Map of significant trees is below, the survey report is available, and we are now formulating our next steps. We’ve also received a second bequest, to fund tree maintenance.
Our plans for the next stage of the project include: exploring plantings around the South Downs Road/Brooks Road trading estate, to soften views from the surrounding Downs; exploring plantings in Landport, perhaps in public and private (front garden) locations; and influencing longer-term, broader planting in the town through the developing Lewes Neighbourhood Plan.
We’ll be pursuing other objectives over time, and will continue to provide updates here.
If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us.
