The tree is said to be easily confused with an ash. However, the leaves of the walnut have alternate buds.  This refers not to the small leaflets but to the group of leaflets, the whole 'leaf' shown in my photograph, along the stem.

"Leaves and bark may appear similar but the walnut fruits are very different from ash 'keys'"(ibid). There is no sign on the ground of walnuts. Nor is there sign of much else under the tree: the juglones appear to be doing their job.

"The strong, distinctive “shoe polish” smell of the walnut leaf is a useful distinguishing feature" (ibid). The leaves have an attractive aroma but not, I would say, of a shoe polish that I have used.

---

An Oak for St Albans Museum - the Museum garden

An oak tree was planted to commemorate the opening of St Albans Museum.

We come back out of the railed area in St Peter's churchyard to the

four-way path crossing

and take the path ahead - the one that was off to our right as we walked along by the church and the Cottons' grave.

 

We come out of the churchyard and pass between the gardens of what was The Liberal Club on the left and, on the right, what was The Art College but is now the Faculty of Law of the University of Hertfordshire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we come out into Hatfield Road, we turn left and walk by the Liberal Club and

come to St Albans Museum.

 

We turn into the Museum drive way

 

 

and go into the gardens behind.

There we see an OAK tree coming into maturity.

 

 

 

 

 

The oak tree was planted by Lord Cowper (pronounced Cooper)  and, yes there is a connection with Nathaniel Cotton's patient: William Cowper was the great nephew of the 1st Lord Cowper who stayed at Hertford Castle and Panshanger. The Lord Cowper (Earl Cowper of Panshanger) who planted this tree was a member of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings. He planted this tree in 1898 as part of the ceremonies associated with laying the foundation stone of the new MUSEUM.

It was Maria Millington Evans (nee Lathbury) who laid the foundation stone. She was an early lady academic, an archaeologist,  and wife of Sir John Evans, owner of Dickinson's Paper Mills at Nash Mills, himself an enthusiastic and influential amateur archaeologist and a benefactor of the museum.

The delightful St Albans' museum building was not provided by the government or local authority as one might be today. It was paid for by public subscription: major benefactors and many individuals donated money and/or antiquities. And Earl Spencer donated the land.

John Evans had pointed out as early as 1850 that a place to store and display local artefacts was needed. However, with the Abbey competing for funds it was impossible to raise the money. When Lord Grimthorpe gave his financial support to the Abbey, an appeal was put out for funds to build a museum, and the appeal received a good response.

St Albans Museum was officially opened by Lady Cowper in 1899. It was known as the County Museum - it being the only one in Hertfordshire.

---

Gifts to the City Centre

A scheme now managed by St Albans and District Council, makes it possible for members of the public to gift a tree to the District. The gift is recorded in the St Albans Tree Book of Remembrance. Many of the trees are commemorative.

From the Museum gardens, we return into Hatfield Road and cross at the pedestrian crossing a bit to our left, then turn right to

walk by the Marlborough Buildings, alms houses gifted by the Duchess of Marlborough.

 

We turn left into the snicket at the bottom of the garden at the far end of the Buildings.

We zigzag with the path

and turn into the railed garden on the right,

 

 

 

 

 

walk through it to the gate diagonally opposite site ahead and on our left.

The Council Offices are in front of us.

We skirt the offices, keeping them to our left

until we come to the front entrance.

 

 

 

If the offices are open, we log into reception to view the St Albans Tree Book of Remembrance

 

which is on the balcony above us.

We go up the open staircase,

and go left to the end of the balcony

where we can see the open

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St Albans Tree Book of Remembrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If we want to view pages within the book,

we need to ask for a member of the Sustainability Team to open the case and let us see pages other than those on display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It all started when the magnificent lime tree avenue in St Peter Street became of such an age that it was decided that the trees had to go.

 

The original avenue of limes made the town centre truly beautiful in the summer. St Peter Street was referred to as "one of the loveliest boulevards in Europe". The first photograph shows us St Peter Street in the 1940s, the second in the 1970s. The photographs are from the slide collection in the Local History section of the Hertfordshire Library Service in St Albans.

 

Elsie Toms tells us in 'The Story of St Albans' (1962) that the St Peter's Street lime trees "were planted in 1881 at the expense of a private citizen, Mr H, Gotto" (Toms, 1962).

 

But vwoop! They were all to be cut down and dug out.

 

Individuals remonstrated with the Council officials: there seemed to be no plan to replace the trees - and even if the trees were replaced, it would be ages before the saplings grew to a size where they gave again the lovely green-avenue feel to the Street.

 

Councillor Bill Morris was one of the people who worked tirelessly to see the trees replaced. "Trees are the 'living furniture of our streets'" is the dedication he gave to his tree in the Tree Book of Remembrance.

 

It was suggested that only those trees that were dangerously decayed should be taken down. Each could be replaced by a young tree and so gradually all the old trees would be replaced but the town centre never left bare. Paul Arnold pointed to the maples and sycamores lining the drive up to Batchwood as a fine example of the beauty of a mixed-age avenue. Others thought that the avenue would look better if all the trees were the same age and this is the view that prevailed.

 

It was Eric Roberts, then chairman of the Civic Society, who proposed a scheme of sponsorship to overcome the Council's reluctance to commit to the huge expenditure required to replace the trees. Eric had seen such a scheme work well in Folkestone. As it has done here.

 

Three of the London Planes in St Peter Street were gifts of the Civic Society:

one "In appreciation of St Albans",

one for the 40th anniversary of the Civic Society,

and one in memory of Derek Arnold "for his contribution to St Albans and work for the Civic Society".

 

 

 

What a difference the trees make to the street scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sponsorship scheme is still in effect, now managed by the Council's Sustainability Officer, currently Trevor Brennan (St Albans Council 01727 819466). A tree can be sponsored for as little as £50, depending on the type of tree. It costs the Council a great deal more than that to acquire, plant and maintain the tree. The Council even promises to replace the tree if required. The willingness to bear the extra cost is a measure of the Council's commitment to the scheme.

 

The Tree Book of Remembrance was made by I R Dorset of 'By George'.

 

On the opening pages are Philip Larkin's poem 'The Trees'

and the St Albans Coat of Arms and book title.

 

Each tree has a page of commemoration beautifully written and illustrated by Linda Williams.

 

Some trees are to commemorate a birth:

Evan James Bowers, Helen Catherine Davies

 

 

or grandchildren:

Isabel and Oliver Driscoll.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many gifts commemorate a life:

 

Michael Wilson "No said the bird,

for the leaves were full of children hidden excitedly containing laughter",

a purple beech in Clarence Park;

 

Philip Williams, a silver birch in Hamilton Road;

 

Marion Mobey, a silver birch in Woodland Drive;

 

 

Jenny Perry for her husband Colin ,

a larch and an oak in Marquis Lane;

 

 

Lilian Calder, a sweet gum in Hatfield Road;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

H. Irvin King, a silver birch in Ramsey Close;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betty Hurst and Wilf Hurst "Much loved Friends and Neighbours",

an amelanchier lamarckii in Forefield;

 

Geoff Butler, a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

Cecil Pepper and Winnie (neė Sanders) Pepper, a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

Harold and Dorothy Head, a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

Ron Price "To capture the beauty of Autumn" a beech;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julian Graham Tilling, a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russell Cannon "who lived here" a field maple outside 19 Netherway;

 

Margaret Joyce Bowen, a hawthorn in Ragged Hall Lane;

 

Alice Edith Reid (Edie), a London Plane in St Peter Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the gifts of trees were to share joys, thoughts or ideas: 

 

"Happy years living in St Albans"

from Lynn and Mike Levy a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

 "A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees" Wm Blake

from the Rose/Ives-Rose family a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

"In celebration of Friendship and Goodwill - deep roots and many branches"

from Kate Morris a London Plane in St Peter Street.

 

 

 

 

All the trees were gifted to enhance St Albans, some specifically so:

 

"For the Pleasure of Future Generations"

from Arnold James Ltd, Building Services Engineers a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

"To maintain a green heart in our City" from Cllr Peter and Mrs Veronica Peters a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"For tomorrow" from Sandra Ward and Ian Sanders, a tilda euchlora in Clarence Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have mentioned the trees gifted by the Civic Society. Other organisations have given us trees:

 

St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society

 "A record of gratitude for our Civic Heritage"

a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

The St Albans and District Footpath Society

in memory of Professor Ian Douglas Morton

15 trees in Rothamstead Park;

 

Alpin Close Residents Association

a prunus avium plena in Alpin Close:

 

Soroptimist International of St Albans District

 "as a living symbol of their role as a global voice for women"

a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

Rainbows, Brownies and Guides

"Future citizens of St Albans"

a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residents of Meautys gave a flowering crab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two schools have given trees:

 

St Albans High School for Girls

 

and St Albans School, each a London Plane in St Peter Street.

 

 

Firms have given trees: we have mentioned the gift of Arnold James Ltd.

 

Duncan Clark plc gave a London Plane in St Peter Street

to commemorate the new millennium;

 

 

One or two gifts are personal or family commemorations:

 

Peter and Pat Hurford "With gratitude for 21 years as Cathedral Organist and 40 years in St Albans"

a London Plane in St Peter Street;

 

Robert Harper and family a golden hornet in Rothamstead Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One gift commemorates an event:

 

"To recall the success of the 'Save Gombards Yew Group' and the help of Diane Fear"

a London Plane in St Peter Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayors have gifted trees in appreciation of their term of office:

 

Roma Mills has given three trees specifically to commemorate her term of office

- a walnut in Verulamium Park,

 - a white mulberry in Clarence Park

- and a sweet gum in Rothamstead Park;

 

Also to celebrate Roma Mills’ term of office as mayor,

the first of the new millennium, a robinia was planted at Batchwood.

In the speech that led up to the ceremonial planting of the tree, it was made clear that the tree had been chosen to link Ms Mills with “another radical social reformer”, William Cobbett, who encouraged the planting of robinia for its structural strength.

Ms Mills was presented with a stainless steel spade to commemorate the planting.

 

 

John Peters' commemoration is "for the privilege of being mayor

'The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations' Revelations 22:2. The tree is a gift from both he and his wife Veronica.

It is a London Plane in St Peter's Street.

Mayors have given trees to the District without them being part of the Scheme.

The recently outgone mayor, Cllr Alison Steer gave two trees as her parting gift to the city. They were planted very recently, one in Clarence Park and one in Rothamsted Park.

A tree was planted for Jim Greening as the last mayor of the City Council, before it was incorporated into the City and District. His tree is a tulip tree at Batchwood.

See later, for word - not much more than that - of a tree planted for Elsie Toms.

The writing that surrounds the St Albans Tree Book of Remembrance suggests that a tree could be sponsored to "add value to your property". So far, no one has written that as the reason for their gift to the District.

When we have looked our fill, we go down the stairs, out of the Offices and turn right to St Peter's Street. 

Immediately we see the effect on the Street of the London Plane trees.

The "gift" trees were planted in a beige pebbly-looking substance called Amsterdam sand. It protects the tree and lets water through.

With new works, asphalt has temporarily replaced the Amsterdam sand.

How long do you think temporary is?

The two small metal squares within in the square of Amsterdam sand are for watering the trees when there has not been enough rain.

 

 

 

 

The orange tube

coming up next to the tree

is to carry an electric cable

in case we want the trees to be lit.

 

 

 

We can think of the commemorations of the trees as we walk along St Peter Street: almost all the London planes were commemorative gifts, recorded in the St Albans Tree Book of Remembrance.

 

There is one exception that I know of:

it is the last London plane on the opposite side of the road, the one outside Marks and Spencer.

The Parks Department men dug a hole for it. They dug and they dug all day and then returned the next. There was solid concrete to get through and they had to smash through it. They were ragged by passers by about the length of time they were digging and the lack of visible progress but still they dug on. They dug for yet another full day and then decided that they had had enough. They put the tree in to the too-shallow hole, covered it with decent soil and left the tree to what they thought would be a steady decline. You can see that it is thriving: it was the first planted but, even allowing for that, it is easily the biggest of the planes. )

We can expect the planes to grow a great deal bigger. Planes grow to be magnificent trees. Their unusual bark peels off in large plates revealing patches of creamy white. The peeling bark stops its pores from getting blocked, making the tree particularly suited to withstand the pollution of city streets. The word 'Plane' is derived from old Greek, which refers to the broad leaf on the tree.

Three of the trees in St Peter Street are lime trees. They are the ones nearest to the Town Hall. They remind us of the avenue of limes that made St Albans "the loveliest boulevard in Europe"

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Robina to mark the French Connection - by the clock tower at the end of French Row,

Tradition has it that the King of France was held where the Fleur de Lys public house now is in French Row. When it came to choosing a tree to plant close by, a tree with a French connection was chosen: a robinia, named for Jean Robin, herbalist to the King of France.

Cross St Peter's Street at the pedestrian crossing and walk left along St Peter's Street,

into Market Place

and along French Row,

at the end of which is a lovely tall tree with un-straight branches and feathery leaves. The tree is a ROBINIA planted, because it is at the end of French Row, for its French connection.

 

 

 

 

 

It all started with the Civic Society being concerned about `the dreadful state’ of the area where the drinking fountain used to be between the Clock Tower and the High Street, outside The Great Red Lion, now Zizzi’s restaurant, at the end of French Row and next to the Fleur de Lys.

 The Parks Department were, as were other Council Departments, often under fire from The Civic Society of St Albans. Mr Plant, Head of the Parks Department at the time, thought it a good strategy to suggest to the Civic Society that they design the layout and the Parks Department would put it into effect. This turned out to be a good idea because even within the Civic Society there was considerable argument and the Parks people were glad to be well out of it.

 The layout put forward by the Civic Society included a circle of benches and small paving stones to represent the position of the 13th Century Eleanor Cross, the 18th Century town pump and Market Cross, and the 19th Century drinking fountain.

 A tree was to be positioned close to the Great Red Lion – too close for the Parks Department. By then the effects of trees on building subsidence was beginning to be understood and the Civic Society agreed to a new position a little further from the buildings.

 The tree is a Robinia, chosen because it is named for the herbalist and head gardener at the French Court in the time of  Henry IV and Louis XIII. His name was Jean Robin.  It is in his gardens that the tree is first known in Europe and it was through his friendship and collaboration with John Tradescant the Elder that the Robinia was introduced to this country. John Tradescant was employed at nearby Hatfield House and his image is carved in the great staircase of the House.

The robinia has lovely upward-reaching, ziggy-zaggy branches

and feathery leaves, giving a feel of weightlessness.

The bark is deeply grooved and, with age, becomes gnarled and interestingly weird.

The flowers are white and clustered.

 

 

 

 

 

The Latin name is Robinia Pseudoacacia and its common names are Locust Tree, Black Locust and False Acacia. It is a native of North America and first known in Europe in the gardens of Jean Robin.

Real Acacias, which grow in Australia and Africa, are Mimosa Trees. They are also, as the Robinia, of the pea family (Leguminosae).

"'Locust Tree' is a name given to Robinia by some of the 17th century religious immigrants to America. The Bible tells the story of how John the Baptist was kept alive in the wilderness by eating 'locusts', which were not the insects, but the pods of the Carob tree, which have some resemblance to the beasties. Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is an evergreen member of the Pea family, which grows in hot dry areas and whose lavender-brown pods contain 10-16 glossy seeds in a sweet pulp, which is very nutritious and tastes rather like chocolate!
"When the Christian immigrants discovered Robinia and Gleditsia, who were also members of the pea family and which have roughly similar pods, they were called the "Black Locust" and the "Honey Locust" respectively. "

(http://www.the-tree.org.uk/BritishTrees/TreeGallery/falseacaciac.htm)

 

And what of French Row and its French connection? The Fleur has only just been refurbished and reopened (June 2007) and a new board in white writing on shiny black, tells us that, when he was captured after the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, King John of France was held in a building on this site.

 

This confirms the short statement on an older blue board by the door.

 

However the illustrated board at the entrance to the side passage, casts doubt on King John of France ever having been held here in French Row.

 

From the authority of yet another board that was outside the Fleur before it was refurbished, we can gain one clue to the reason for doubt. The board told us that King John was placed in the care of the Abbot but "at that time the house seems to have been in private hands not part of the Abbey’s possessions, a most unlikely residence for a king." 'Seems' does not add to credibility but I have been told that there is another reason for doubt: Thomas de la Mare was abbot at the time and a contemporary account of his abbacy was written by Thomas Walsingham. In that account there is no mention of King John of France being in St Albans. It is considered inconceivable that this would be the case if King John had been in St Albans even if not in the custody - sorry, 'under the protection' - of the Abbot. 

 

However, it is certainly the tradition that the French King was kept here - the name of the passage commemorates it  -  and it is right that the tree should do the same.

 It was the selection of this tree that gave Paul Arnold the idea of planting trees with an historical connection. The visitors and residents of St Albans can be glad, and enjoy the trees and the knowledge of their historical connections for many years to come.

---

 

Pine Nuts for the Triangular Temple

A grove of stone pines, also known as Italian pines, was planted as close as was allowed to the Triangular Temple in the Roman city of Verulamium.

If we go up hill through the American Circle of trees and pass to the right of

a tall spreading sycamore tree,

we see a path going through to the right.

 

 

We take that path

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and come out at the

foundations of the Londinium Gate that stood in the wall around the Roman city of Verulamium.

We can see from the illustration on the board how many tiers of flint between layers of red tiles went into the towers of the Gate. From looking at the remains of the wall to our left, we can see the height of each tier and realise how very imposing the towers must have been.

From the lines of the foundations, we can see the pedestrian and cart ways in, and the cart and pedestrian ways out, and imagine coming through the gate and into the Roman town where we would see ahead a triumphal arch and beyond that the Triangular Temple, about 200 yards from where we are standing. (See a Plan of Verulamium drawn by David Williams, Niblett, Rosalind, 2001, "Verulamium" Tempus, p90)

In Verulamium Museum there was on display a votive bowl filled with pine nuts because pine nuts, seeds of the stone pine, pinus pinea, were found in excavations of that Triangular Temple (Reports of the Society of Antiqueries, p120). When Paul Arnold of the City Parks Department saw the little bowl of nuts, he thought, "That’s our next historical tree planting." 

A grove of pinus pinea was planted as close to the Triangular Temple in Verulamium Park as the archaeological authorities would allow. If we look ahead and to the left,

we see a line of trees going away from us, the white hypocaust building just visible beyond and to the left of it.

It is at this end of that line of trees that the grove was planted. Not all of the trees have survived and when Paul Arnold saw that a replacement was not a pinus pinea, he realised that the current Parks team did not know of the historical connection. That the story of the trees might not be quite lost, is one of the reasons for this write up.

Paul Arnold knew that the "tree [pinus pinea] has always been valued in Italy for its edible seeds and, as their husks have been found in the refuse heaps of Roman encampments in Britain, they appear to have been sent over for the use of the army in occupation" (Bean, W.J., “Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles”, Vol 3., 8^th Ed., 1970 2^nd Imp. 1980).

On hearing of this, I inferred, with my 21^st century layman’s understanding of offerings that, if presented in the right spirit, even a staple food such as was issued to soldiers, would be an appropriate offering to a god or goddess. However, Rosalind Niblett, then archaeologist at Verulamium Museum, in 'Verulamium: the Roman City of St Albans' (Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2001) sheds a very different light on the pinus pinea seeds:

"The suggestion that the temple was dedicated to Cybele is based on the discovery in what must have been votive pits in the temple court, of burnt seeds and scales from pine cones of the Italian pine (pinus pinea). The pine figured in the rituals associated with the worship of Cybele and her consort Attis but the Italian pine is not a species that grows naturally in Britain, either the cones or a tree itself must have been imported."

 Cybele was a goddess of earth, mountains and caverns and was worshipped as a protector of fortified places and cities in general. As great protectress of cities, it is appropriate that her temple is close to the main entrance to Verulamium. The cult of Cybele increased in popularity in Britain through to the 4th Century. For more about the bizarre rituals associated with Cybele and her priests, not recommended to be read too soon after breakfast, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1999734.stm or, if that fails, Catterick Burial.  It is to be noted that "An inscription on a pot found in a grave at Dunstable, 10 miles along Watling Street, tells us that the jar was dedicated to the dead person by a man called Regillinus, on behalf of fellow  worshippers of Cybele." (Rosalind Niblett 'Roman Hertfordshire', Tempus Publishing Ltd.) 

Incidently, not only were the pine seeds valued for their nutritional value but were thought to be an aphrodisiac. ‘The Greek physician Galenos, of the 2nd century AD, suggests that a mixture of pine seeds, honey and almonds taken before bedtime for three consecutive evenings can increase sexual potency.'

We walk down hill to the right and skirt the railings round the Gate and head for where the grove of pinus pinea was planted, at the near end of the line of trees gong away from us with the white hypocaust building visible beyond it to its left.

We shall be walking over the Temple when we are 200 metres from the Gate and 50 metres from the concrete path along the hedge line on our right. A football pitch is about 90 metres long and there are usually a couple of pitches marked out and their goal posts clearly visible between the grove and Londinium Gate so that we can think "two football pitches from the Gate and half a football pitch from the hedge".

The Temple had an external altar at its blunt point facing Londinium Gate with a backdrop of the plastered walls of the temple, probably embellished with Purbeck marble, fragments of which were found in the 1930s excavation (Niblett 2001).