17th September 2026
ATF Sussex Report – Visit to Petworth Park
By Bob Epsom, ATF Sussex Coordinator
After having a break in 2025, the ATF Sussex local group held a walk on Saturday 1st of August 2026 at Petworth Park. We were joined by 30 people in glorious weather. This was a return visit to the famous Capability Brown designed landscape, as the group previously visited the southern park in 2023. With such a large population of ancient and veteran trees, a return visit to the north of the parkland was needed.
Tom, the National Trust Ranger for the property, led the walk. Our first stop was a huge 7.75 metre ancient sweet chestnut tree on Monument Hill. The tree has a huge cavity in the trunk, a fallen attached limb that has layered, aerial roots and many other veteran characteristics. It even had the claim from the consultant who surveyed it as the best ancient tree ever seen!
We then continued an upward journey to a large dead oak overlooking the bowl of the park and the greater landscape of the Sussex Weald and Downs beyond. Discussion was had on the tree surveys at Petworth and the management of this designed landscape. Tom explained that there were not many named trees in the park but has, himself, called the next tree “The Barrel Oak”. He mentioned this was also referred to as the same by one of the ecologists working in the park. It is an 8-metre girthed oak with huge burrs all over the trunk. It was pointed out that Petworth has quite a collection of exotic oaks in the gardens and park, with a recent discovery of a sawtooth oak being present. It is easily walked past thinking it is a sweet chestnut, having similar sized and shaped leaves.
Next up was one of the largest trees of the park, an oak that measured 8.96m that was struck by lightning in 2024. It apparently burned for four weeks. Fortunately, as this tree is in the wider park, away from the path and not in the way of any historic views, it has been left in situation. We then skirted around the edge of the Lower Pond where some of the chestnuts have had dead hedging put around them to help reduce visitor impacts. The last stop was to one of the only named trees in the park, the Beelzebub Oak. It’s marked on the present-day Ordnance Survey map and even has a name plaque on the adjacent perimeter wall. The tree is now dead and there is speculation whether this was a replacement tree, as a tree was noted at this location on a 1779 map.
For those that want to visit this important collection of trees, Petworth is accessible in daylight hours at all times. See the National Trust webpage https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/petworth
Tom and his team of volunteers are currently adding all the trees to the Ancient Tree Inventory as the records have previously been quite limited. Once complete, this will provide a useful resource for anyone wanting to explore this magnificent site for old trees.
All Image Credits: Ancient Tree Forum Sussex
