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Tree will be helped with new technique in UK first

Sam Read & Katy Prickett
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Sam Read/BBC A London plane tree in a walled garden in Ely. The tree is surrounded by grass, dotted with blue flowers. Behind it can be seen the back of a large house, the former bishop's palace. Sam Read/BBC
The tree was a gift from King Charles II to the then bishop of Ely in 1674 so is about 360 years old, said David Day

One of the country's largest and oldest London plane trees will be supported with a technique not previously believed to have been used in the UK.

It was thought the tree had been given to the Bishop of Ely for his palace garden, which is now part of King's private school, in the Cambridgeshire cathedral city, by Charles II in the 1670s.

Chair of school governors David Day said Italian experts will use morphophysiology, to "understand how to care and protect the tree going into the future".

Funded by a £121,000 National Lottery Heritage grant, the project will also increase public accessibility to the tree "with garden opening days throughout the year", he said.

Steve Hubbard/BBC An aerial shot of a walled garden in Ely which shows a number of trees, including a London plane tree. Behind the garden is Ely Cathedral on the top left. To the right of the garden are various buildings. Beyond them is a park. Steve Hubbard/BBC
It was planted in a walled garden at the back of the bishop's palace, close to the city's cathedral

Mr Day said morphophysiology "applies in particular to heritage and veteran trees".

This is the study of tree shape and structure in relation to function to achieve the goal of sustaining life, according to The Arboricultural Association.

"It's the first time this method is being used in the UK, primarily led by an Italian team," he said.

"One of the reasons the National Lottery Heritage provided the grant is because it its pioneering work and it will help to conserve other heritage trees throughout the UK in the future."

Cable bracing installed in the tree in the 1940s and 1980s needs to be replaced. The survey will help inform how best to do that.

Steve Hubbard/BBC David Day, who has white short hair. He is wearing a blue jacket over a lighter blue jumper, white shirt and blue spotted tie. Behind him is a lawn and across it is a large London plane tree. Steve Hubbard/BBC
Mr Day said the £121,000 grant will cover the necessary conservation work for the next four years, starting in July

Engineers from the University of Cambridge have also got involved, in another innovation claimed to be a first.

Dr James Talbot, an associate professor at its engineering department, said: "We're trying to create a theoretical model of the tree to understand the design of the mitigation that's been proposed - the cabling arrangements."

To do so, a laser scanner scanned the geometry of the tree.

This will be converted into a structural model to help predict the motion of the wind on the tree, as well as its own natural movement, he said.

Sam Read/BBC James Talbot, who has short grey hair. He is wearing metal-framed glasses and a blue jacket over an open necked church. Behind him is lawn and beyond that a London plane tree.Sam Read/BBC
Dr James Talbot said the engineers hoped to understand how to share the load of a "poorly branch" among healthier branches using a model of the tree

Engineers are more used to working with seasoned timber than living wood - if they work with wood at all, Dr Talbot added.

About 30 King's Ely students have been finding out about the project as part of the school's science week.

Work will begin in July and last four years.

Steve Hubbard/BBC An aerial shot of a London plane tree in a walled garden in Ely. It shows the canopy of the largely leafless tree. Beneath it is grass and there are other smaller tree canopies beside it. Steve Hubbard/BBC
It is believed to be the first time a lottery grant has been used to preserve a single tree

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