Bethnal Green mulberry tree#The site

The East London site of the former London Chest Hospital, just east of Bonner Road has a long history. Roman bricks and tiles were found on the site in the mid-19th century, suggesting a high status Romano-British site.

The spot was later used as the manor house of the Manor (estate) of Stepney, which covered much of what would later become the East End. The Lords of the Manor had been the Bishops of London who held the Manor long before Domesday,{{Cite web |title=Stepney {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ3581/stepney/ |access-date=29 June 2023 |website=opendomesday.org}} with Stepney possibly part of the foundation grant of land when the Diocese of London was re-established (as the East Saxon see) in 604.'Stepney: Manors and Estates', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T. F. T. Baker (London, 1998), pp. 19–52. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp19-52 [accessed 7 December 2021]. The first surviving record of the Bishop's having a residence on their Stepney estate (which included Bethnal Green at that time) is from 1207.'Stepney: Settlement and Building to c. 1700', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T. F. T. Baker (London, 1998), pp. 13–19. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 [accessed 6 December 2021].

At one time the Manor House was known as Bishop's Wood, later as Bishop's Hall.{{Cite web|url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/09/17/how-old-is-the-bethnal-green-mulberry/|title=How Old Is The Bethnal Green Mulberry? | Spitalfields Life}} Bishop's Hall was demolished in the mid 19th century and replaced by the London Chest Hospital which was opened in 1855, by a group of mostly Quaker philanthropists. The hospital's chapel was erected adjacent to the tree.

The line of Bishops who held Stepney included saints, such as Cedd and Dunstan, but in the mid-sixteenth century, Bishop Edmund Bonner – or Bloody Bonner became notorious for his persecution of Protestants, during a period of mutual intolerance. There is a tradition that Bonner sat beneath a mulberry tree while deciding which heretics to burn.{{Cite web|date=22 February 2021|title=The battle to save London's mulberry trees|url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/mulberry-trees-london-bethnal-green/|access-date=22 May 2021|website=Apollo Magazine|language=en-US}} In Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1563, the Bishop is depicted flogging a martyr next to a sapling.

In the archive of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel there is an inkwell made in 1911 from a preserved slice of a tree, which is recorded as having been taken from a broken bough of a mulberry 'reputed to be that under which Bishop Bonner went to sit in the cool of the evening'. If Bonner's tree is not the current Bethnal Green mulberry tree, it could be a scion of that tree.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/a-plea-for-the-bethnal-green-mulberry-tree-6000-back-petition-a3754821.html|title=A plea for the Bethnal Green Mulberry tree: 6,000 back petition|date=31 January 2018|website=Evening Standard}} Mulberry trees do not lose boughs until they have reached an age of around 120 years, and a young tree is unlikely to attract a tradition, even a false one, linking it to a figure from the distant past. An arbocultural assessment therefore concluded that the latest reasonable origin of the tree was from around 1800. Estimating the maximum age of veteran trees is very challenging, especially in this case, with the damage the tree had sustained over the years; but 350–400 years was seen as most likely (making it the oldest tree in the East End),{{Cite web|url=https://www.moruslondinium.org/research/lch-mulberry|title=Tower Hamlets approve decision to move London Chest Hospital mulberry | Morus Londinium|website=www.moruslondinium.org}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/how-to-grow/ancient-london-mulberry-tree-threatened-block-luxury-flats/|title=The ancient London mulberry tree threatened by a block of luxury flats – and the fight to save it|first=The Gentle|last=Author|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=8 September 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}} with even older estimates, such as those linking the tree to Bonner, also plausible.

A photograph in the Royal London Hospital Archives shows nurses dancing round the Bethnal Green Mulberry in the hospital grounds in 1944. In 1945, in the last few months of the Second World War, a bomb fell on the adjacent chapel, the chapel was destroyed and the tree, though damaged, survived. Charring can still be seen on the tree today.

The black mulberry is not native to the British Isles and rarely grows from seed; it usually needs to be carefully propagated from cuttings. Once established though, black mulberry trees can be long lived, with the oldest known example, a healthy specimen at Syon House, recorded as being planted in 1548.{{Cite web |title=The Oldest Mulberry In Britain {{!}} Spitalfields Life |url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/05/05/the-oldest-mulberry-in-britain/ |access-date=29 June 2023 |language=en}} In English folklore, mulberry is associated with patience, since the tree will not come into leaf until the risk of frost has passed.English Folklore, Rev Thomas Thiselton Dyer, 1878 This usually happens in early to mid-May depending on conditions.Morus Londinium https://www.moruslondinium.org/map/identify#:~:text=Mulberries%20can%20be%20hard%20to,are%20it%27s%20not%20a%20mulberry!Gardener’s Chronicle January 9th 1892 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Gardeners_Chronicle/_7szAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22black+mulberry%22+leaf+mid-may+frost&pg=PA41&printsec=frontcover The risk of frost is traditionally said to pass at St Dunstan’s Day (19th May).{{cite web|title=Weather Eye|website=The Times|url= https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/weather-eye-may-19-2003-3p3kqrkdqdl |access-date=4 April 2025|first=Paul |last=Simons |date=19 May 2003}}{{cite web|title=The Franken’s Nights Legend|website=Bonny Green |url=https://www.bonnygreen.uk/franken.html|access-date=4 April 2025|first=Colin |last=Andrew}}

Today mulberries are best known for their use as food, notably in jam, but the Romans – who introduced the tree to Britain – valued it as a medicinal plant, useful for its effects on the gastro-intestinal system. This usage was maintained by monasteries who were the main source of medical care in medieval England.{{Cite web|url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/05/06/how-old-is-the-bethnal-green-mulberry-x/|title = How Old is the Bethnal Green Mulberry ? | Spitalfields Life}}{{Cite web |title=The role of the Church and monasteries – Developments in patient care – WJEC – GCSE History Revision – WJEC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z27nqhv/revision/1 |access-date=29 June 2023 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}

The black mulberry became associated, particularly in the East End, with the silk weaving industry, which was originally brought to England by Protestant Huguenot refugees from France in the time of Henry VIII in the early 16th century.'Industries: Silk-weaving', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2, General; Ashford, East Bedfont With Hatton, Feltham, Hampton With Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, ed. William Page (London, 1911), pp. 132–137. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol2/pp132-137 [accessed 10 December 2021]. This migration gathered pace in the 17th century, with extensive settlement in the East End – especially Bethnal Green, Bishopsgate Without and Spitalfields – making the area a major centre silk weaving centre.Eppie Evans, The Influence of Foreignness, The Influence of ‘Foreignness’:

How Immigration and Imported Commodities affected England https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5774/1/Eppie__Evans_-_The_Influence_of_%27Foreignness%27.pdf

Silk weaving was carried out producing imported raw materials, but in the early sixteenth century, James VI and I, keen to promote the industry encouraged the widespread planting on mulberries in an attempt to end that dependence by providing a foodstuff for the silkworm. The attempt to produce British raw materials for the industry was largely unsuccessful. Despite this mulberries were still planted for ornamental purposes, being highly prized for their shade giving properties.{{Cite web |title=Timeline of the mulberry in London {{!}} Morus Londinium |url=https://www.moruslondinium.org/research/timeline |access-date=29 June 2023 |website=www.moruslondinium.org}}

The importance of the textiles industry to the East End led to the inclusion of a sprig of mulberry in the coat of arms of the London borough of Tower Hamlets (together with a weavers shuttle).[https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php? Tower_Hamlets] Heraldry of the World The mulberry is also included in tribute to the Huguenot refugees.{{Cite news |last=White |first=Anna |date=19 March 2018 |title=How London's newest developments are harnessing the history they were built on |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/uk/londons-newest-developments-harnessing-history-built/ |access-date=29 June 2023 |issn=0307-1235}} Mulberry leaves and berries were also included in Tower Hamlets street signs for a time, with many of these surviving.{{Cite web|url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/02/19/the-bethnal-green-mulberry-lecture/|title=The Bethnal Green Mulberry Lecture | Spitalfields Life}} In 2016, the then Bishop of London, planted a black mulberry at Christ Church, Spitalfields, describing the species as emblematic of the prosperity brought by migrants.{{Cite web|url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2016/10/18/the-spitalfields-mulberry/|title=The Spitalfields Mulberry | Spitalfields Life}}

In April 2015 the London Chest Hospital closed and the site was purchased by a housing developer.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2018/01/thousand-sign-petition-save-ancient-mulberry-tree-bethnal-green/|title=Thousands sign petition to save ancient mulberry tree in Bethnal Green|date=16 January 2018|website=Eastlondonlines}} In early 2017 the developer obtained permission from Tower Hamlets Council's Arboricultural team to relocate the mulberry tree, prior to submitting a planning application to redevelop the hospital and surrounding grounds. These plans were opposed by campaigners from the East End Waterway Group.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/environment/campaigners-launch-petition-to-save-historic-roof-and-mulberry-tree-1-5679892|title=Campaigners battle against developer's London Chest Hospital demolition bid with 500-year-old 'memorial' tree 'threatened'|first=Jon|last=King|website=East London Advertiser|date=4 September 2018}}

The Bethnal Green mulberry is subject to a Tree preservation order, issued by Tower Hamlets Council.{{Cite web|url=http://towerhamlets.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=b0448c3d9f254bf683e200174fc3f729|title=ArcGIS Web Application|website=towerhamlets.maps.arcgis.com}} In 2017 a Judicial Review was brought, arguing that the age of the tree had been underestimated – that it was in fact a veteran tree, and would be covered by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which states that "development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats (such as ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees) should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists".{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/planning-applications-affecting-trees-and-woodland|title=Planning applications affecting trees and woodland|website=GOV.UK|date=20 April 2020 }} It was argued that the risks associated with moving a veteran tree meant that permission to relocate it ought not to have been granted.{{cite web |url=http://www.flac.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/London-Chest-Hospital-Advice.pdf |title=Proposed works to and relocation of mulberry tree |first=Julian |last=Forbes-Laird |date=11 May 2017 |website=FLAC}} Tower Hamlets Council agreed and the plans were temporarily suspended.{{Cite web|url=https://www.building.co.uk/news/grid-resubmits-controversial-chest-hospital-plans/5091306.article|title=Grid resubmits controversial chest hospital plans|first=Elizabeth|last=Hopkirk|date=3 January 2018|website=Building}}

In a lecture on the mulberry tree given in March 2018, Julian Forbes Laird (of Forbes Laird Arboricultural Consultancy) described the relocation plan as "unlikely to succeed. The tree will either fall apart or die, or possibly both".

A petition titled 'Save the Bethnal Green Mulberry' was launched in 2017 by the East End Preservation Society. It had reached 10,000 signatures by September 2018. In addition, Tower Hamlets council received three hundred letters of objection.{{Cite web|url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/09/21/the-fate-of-the-bethnal-green-mulberry/|title=The Fate Of The Bethnal Green Mulberry | Spitalfields Life}} At the time of the 2011 census there were 13,683 residents in Bethnal Green.{{NOMIS2011|id=1237320236|title=Bethnal Green North Ward (as of 2011)|accessdate=20 January 2019}}

The planning application, including relocation of the mulberry tree, went to Tower Hamlets planning committee in September 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=93457|title=Agenda item – Former London Chest Hospital, Bonner Road, London, E2 9JX (PA/16/03342 and PA/16/03343)|date=20 September 2018|website=democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk}} Three councillors voted to reject the plans and four voted to approve (with one abstention), and the tree was agreed be relocated to the lawn in front of the old hospital entrance.

On 21 May 2021, the High Court quashed the grant of planning permission and listed building consent for the redevelopment.{{Cite news|last=Carpani|first=Jessica|date=21 May 2021|title=Mulberry tree that survived the Blitz sees off latest adversary – developers|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/21/judge-halts-move-ancient-blitz-surviving-mulberry-tree-citing/|access-date=22 May 2021|issn=0307-1235}} High Court judge Sir Duncan Ouseley said the council's planning committee had "misinterpreted" planning policy when it considered whether the tree would die if it was moved and the "material consideration was ignored".{{Cite web|last=Burford|first=Rachael|date=21 May 2021|title=Campaigners backed by Dame Judi Dench win high court fight to save old tree|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/bethnal-green-mulberry-tree-judi-dench-high-court-oldest-b936606.html|access-date=22 May 2021|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}

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Category:Individual trees in England

Category:Morus (plant)

Category:Bethnal Green