A 6ft section of the Sycamore Gap Tree which was chopped down will go on display for the public this week. Following its felling in 2023, a part of the tree has been made into an installation which visitors are encouraged to touch or hug. Charlie Whinney, the artist behind the masterpiece, was commissioned to create the artwork as a tribute to the landmark which once stood next to Hadrian’s Wall.
The world-famous tree was cut down by Daniel Graham, 39 and Adam Carruthers, 32, who were found guilty in May this year of two counts of criminal damage each. The pair drove through a storm for 30 miles in the middle of the night from their homes in Cumbria to attack the Northumberland tree. After being chopped down, Mr Whinney held a public consultation and concluded that the public would want to be able to touch the remainder of the tree.
From Friday, people will be able to sit on three benches around the trunk.
Mr Whinney said: “This commission has been the biggest honour of my career.
“The work has pushed and challenged my practice in every way – and completely changed how I view individual trees.
“I learned a huge amount getting to know more about the project and the amazing people involved, and we also used every single tool in the workshop.
“The work acknowledges a moment in time when the nation reacted to the felling of a single tree which is massively significant in a time when our culture is not so connected to the natural world we are all part of.
“We’ve used words people said at the time in the work arranged as a branching organic sculptural poem.
“I really hope what we’ve done in some small way allows the people of Northumberland and those who held this tree close to their hearts to process the loss they still feel from that day in September 2023, when the tree was illegally cut down.
“The work looks forward with hope, the tree is regrowing, and Sycamore Gap will always be a magical place to visit.”
The artwork will be open to the public on Friday 11 July at 10am at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, Northumberland.
Tony Gates, chief executive of the Northumberland National Park, said: “This was the people’s tree and so from the start, we knew there had to be a public-led response.
“This artwork is a collective collaboration with and for the public and symbolises our deep and lasting relationship with nature.
“The original tree may be gone in the form we knew it, but its legacy remains, and what has come since has been endlessly positive, affirming our belief that people nature and place cannot be separated and are interdependent.”
