The National Trust has announced the winner of a competition to design an artistic tribute to the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree, praising the winner for aiming “to reimagine the tree’s legacy as something shared and living”.
For at least 150 years, the sycamore had stood at a viewpoint over Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, but the much-loved tree was cut down in an act of vandalism in September 2023.
The competition has been won by arts charity Helix Arts and George King Architects, whose winning design is The People’s Tree.
A UK-wide participation programme will see members of the public invited to record reflections on their relationship with nature. Alongside these spoken-word pieces, the artists will create a digital soundtrack by scanning the tree rings, transforming its history into sound.
Some of the seasoned wood recovered from the tree will be used to create artworks with communities and local artists.
The project will culminate in a sound sculpture that includes a time capsule for the tree. It will be displayed at an accessible point along Hadrian’s Wall, with the exact location yet to be decided.
The public participation aspect of the artwork is expected to start this summer, with the completed work set to debut by September 2027.
The winner was picked by a judging panel and a public vote, and Helix Arts director Cheryl Gavin said being chosen by both “feels phenomenal”.
“This project comes from a belief that the legacy of the Sycamore Gap tree lives not only in its wood, but in the relationships, memories and moments of connection it sparked,” she continued.
“Connecting and collaborating with communities along Hadrian’s Wall and across the UK is key, we want to create places where people can pause, listen and feel part of something shared – where loss becomes a starting point for reconnection and care.
“Acknowledging the impact of the loss of the tree nationally – we also wanted to find a way to resonate beyond the north-east, and we’ll do this through the digital swapping of stories to understand one another’s experience with the Gap and connection to nature.”
George King, from George King Architects, added: “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected for the Sycamore Gap commission. It is a real honour to be entrusted with responding to a place that means so much to so many people.
“The tree as it was can never be replaced, but what we can do is create a place for reflection and connections. Drawing on our experience in exhibitions and installations, we aim to shape a thoughtful installation, to create a lasting legacy for future generations, that honours its meaning and gives people a place to reconnect.”
The People’s Tree will sit alongside other activities to mark the legacy of the Sycamore Gap three, including community partnerships, exhibitions and touring artworks.
The National Trust has also confirmed that several shoots are regrowing from the stump for the third year running, bolstering hopes that a new tree will grow in the gap.
Daniel Michael Graham and Adam Carruthers, both from Cumbria, were last year jailed for more than four years each after using a chainsaw to illegally fell the tree.
The pair were convicted of criminal damage after filming themselves cutting down the centuries-old sycamore.
