14 July 2005
Using special dating techniques, the National Trust has discovered the age of the world famous Tolpuddle tree.
The world famous Tolpuddle tree in Dorset, site of the landmark trade union meeting in 1834 that became a historic symbol of the struggles for the emerging labour movement, has been dated for the first time by its owner the National Trust. Using special dating techniques it has been possible to work out that the sycamore tree is likely to have started its life in the 1680s, more than 150 years before the Tolpuddle Martyrs' meeting. Co-inciding with the annual Tolpuddle Festival taking place this week (15-17 July 2005), Ray Hawes, Head of Forestry at the National Trust, who carried out the calculations, says, "The sycamore tree in Tolpuddle has become a place of pilgrimage every year, as thousands of people pay their respects to the Martyrs'. Many of the visitors have no doubt wondered about the age of the tree and how big it was when the Martyrs' met under it in 1834. New calculations we've carried out has established that the tree is around 320 years old, which means that it would already have been quite a large tree when the meeting that pioneered the modern trade union movement took place." The age of the sycamore tree at Tolpuddle was calculated using a method developed by John White of the Forestry Commission in the 1990s to enable people to estimate the age of large trees in Britain. The key measurement in the calculation is the diameter of the tree at a height of 1.3 metres. Taking into account the species, the conditions the tree has grown in and other factors, it is possible to estimate the age of a tree without cutting it down or waiting for it to be blown over. The calculation takes account of the fact that during the first seventy years the tree would have grown at a fairly rapid rate and then gradually slowed down. The fact that the Tolpuddle Tree would have been 'pollarded' (chopped back) during its lifetime also has to be taken into account as this would have slowed down the growth rate of the tree. The Tolpuddle Martyrs' met in an attempt to form one of the world's first trade unions, against a background of falling wages and harsh employment laws. At a time when any labour associations were considered illegal, the Tolpuddle farm labourers were arrested, tried and found guilty and sentenced to transportation to Australia for seven years. These events formed a keep part in the development of modern trade unionism and the struggle for fairer working conditions and better wages in the 19th century. Nigel Costley, Regional Secretary of the South West TUC, said: "The Tolpuddle tree is one of the most famous trees in the country because it was under there that the Martyrs met - a move that led to their deportation, pardon and, ultimately, the foundation of the trade union movement." The Trust owns and looks after countless important ancient trees from Newton’s Apple Tree to the thousand-year-old Hatfield Forest in Essex. The Tolpuddle tree and the village green is one of the smallest National Trust properties, though the tree is the largest sycamore in Dorset. For further press information and an image, please contact: Julian Lloyd, Head of Media on 020 7447 6756, 07768 700976, julian.lloyd@nationaltrust.org.uk
Or Mike Collins, Press Officer, on 01793 817708, 07900 138419 mike.collins@nationaltrust.org.uk Notes to editors: The village green with the Tolpuddle Tree was given to the National Trust in 1934 by Sir Ernest Debenham. Since then the Trust has maintained the tree and continued to allow public access to this famous site.
The annual Tolpuddle Festival (15-17 July 2005) is an annual gathering in this small Dorset village to celebrate one of the key founding moments in the history of the trade union movement. More information can be found at www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk
More information on the National Trust and trees can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk
The tree said to have sheltered the Tolpuddle Martyrs when they met in an attempt to form one of the world's first trade unions has been dated for the first time. The Sycamore Tree is still alive and is under the care of the National Trust in the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset, UK. The Trust calculates that the tree is around 320 years old meaning that it would have been 150 years old when the Martyrs met in 1834.

The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is important to many trade unionists in the UK and across the globe. An annual festival is organised in the village by the Trades Union Congress (the umbrella body for trade unions in the UK) attended by thousands of people. 

Nigel Costley, the regional secretary of the South West TUC, was quoted as saying: "The Tolpuddle Tree is one of the most famous trees in the country because it was under there that the Martyrs met - a move that led to their deportation, pardon, and ultimately the foundation of the trade union movement."

There were six men in the group who came to be known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. They were all farm labourers and lived in poverty. Their leader, George Loveless, decided to set up a union to give the labourers bargaining strength over their wages. Labour associations had been legalised but the men were arrested under a law forbidding the swearing of oaths. They were tried and deported to Australia but were released in 1836.