Trees in London

In this illustrated talk, Paul Wood will discuss the history of trees in London. Until the eighteenth and nineteenth century, trees were largely consigned to private gardens and the countryside, but the growth of cities and changes to how they were developed meant trees increasingly appeared in the public domain. Today, these urban trees are those that Londoners are most acquainted with, they are the trees that provide structure and beauty to our cityscapes but they are also on the frontline of disputes with landowners, developers and planning authorities.

Paul Wood has written four books about trees and urban nature:
Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Britain and Ireland’s Towns and Cities (Particular Books 2025), London’s Street Trees (Safe Haven 2017, 2019, 2024), London is a Forest (Quadrille 2019, 2022) and London Tree Walks (Safe Haven 2020), he is also the editor of the Great Trees of London Map (Blue Crow Media 2021).

You can find Paul on Instagram as @thestreettree, and you can follow his weekly accounts of great British and Irish trees on Substack at thestreettree.substack.com