Tree planting at Westonbirt to celebrate Holford bicentary

The bicentenary of the birth of Robert Stayner Holford, (1808 – 1892) who established Westonbirt Arboretum, is to be marked with the planting of three new trees in the grounds of Westonbirt School on Wednesday 5th March 2008.

Holford was a Victorian Renaissance man; a scholarly connoisseur of the Arts, builder of two impressive houses, collector of old master paintings and objects of virtue.

He amassed a library of rare books and manuscripts and created the famous Arboretum of specimen trees, collected world wide. He inherited the Westonbirt estate from his father in 1839 and took on the enormous task of laying out the impressive Italian Gardens and Pleasure Grounds, expanding the park, starting the world-famous Westonbirt Arboretum, and eventually rebuilding the house - now Westonbirt School.

Holford established the arboretum in the 1850s and his work was continued by his son Sir George Holford. It passed to the Forestry Commission in 1956. The arboretum is today renowned worldwide for its trees and shrub collection with nearly 16,000 specimens and its importance is recognised by English Heritage on its Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historical Interest as a Grade 1 registered landscape.

The arboretum is in the process of creating the world’s best collection of maples – much of Westonbirt’s renowned autumn colour is credited to the Holfords plantings of Japanese maples between 1875 and 1900. The arboretum is also home to the National Maple (Acer) Collection, with over 300 different types in the collection.

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of R.S. Holford’s birth, The Holfords of Westonbirt Trust, jointly with Westonbirt School and the National Arboretum, Westonbirt, will be holding a private tree planting ceremony in the school gardens. This is a fantastic opportunity to bring together many of the Holford descendants who will join to celebrate the achievements of this eminent Victorian - who made Westonbirt his country home.

The Wollemi pine will be one of the three trees to be planted – this recent discovery of a ‘fossil tree’ in Australia would have appealed to Holford who was always keen to add the latest finds to his collection. Quercus ilex, the evergreen oak, will also be planted – said to be Mrs Holford’s favourite tree. The third tree will be an Acer cappadocicum, the tree which Holford himself chose to plant on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1888 and still going strong in the garden.

The planting of the trees marks the start of the regeneration and restoration of Holford’s garden and will be planted by a descendant of Holford on behalf of the Westonbirt Trust and representatives from the School and Arboretum.