Ulmus Londinium: Celebrating London's Elm Heritage

Stables and Lucraft’s spectacular theatrical Ulmus londinium installation in the New Wing, tells the story of London’s elm heritage over the centuries. It has been created for The Conservation Foundation and will culminate in National Tree Week (28 November – 6 December) with a weekend of events on 28 and 29 November.

An online elm heritage route map for smart phones will guide cyclists and walkers beyond Somerset House on a tour of the capital’s central London elm heritage.

Before Dutch elm disease swept through Britain, the elm was an everyday sight to Londoners. Its water resistant wood was used to underpin the arches of Old London Bridge, elm pipes carried water to the capital, Henry Vlll’s doomed queen Anne Boleyn was buried in an elm coffin, while thousands of lesser mortals met their end on the gibbet of the Tyburn elm. It was also a vital part of the capital’s biodiversity, with such rare wildlife as the White-letter hairstreak butterfly depending on it for survival.

The soaring, distinctive elm tree inspired great artists and poets including Johns Constable, Clare and Betjamin. Nowadays elm wood is greatly prized by wood carvers and turners for its interlocking grain, making it resistant to splitting and many sculptors, including Sir Henry Moore have utilised its grain.

The Ulmus londinium display will feature some of elm’s many uses from medieval London to the present day, including boats, chairs, coffins, waterpipes, wagon wheels and herbal remedies. It is the final part of The Conservation Foundation’s Ulmus londinium project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has been reminding Londoners of their elm history and has included 700 new plantings to regenerate London’s elm population. There will be a giveaway of elm saplings on Sunday 29 November as part of National Tree Week.