Preserving the trees of The Avenue

By Monica Chard

The Avenue boasts the most magnificent mature chestnut trees. As well as the large houses, the trees themselves are one of the attractions of this premier road in Lower Sunbury. But the sad fact is, many of these trees are being felled due to disease. Slowly, slowly, they are coming down. That is sad indeed. Trees do not last forever. A friend of mine lives in a road called Elm Tree Avenue. Needless to say, there is not a tree in sight! But we hope that The Avenue will continue to enjoy Chestnut trees for generations to come. Therein lies the issue. Trees are either not being replaced or are being replaced with different species. The proposed alternative to a Chestnut is a Whitebeam. But a Whitebeam will not rise to the might of the Chestnut. There is a TPO covering the whole length of The Avenue but that does not stop them rotting. The owner of a tree with a TPO which is felled under exemption is obliged to plant another tree of “an appropriate size/ species as soon as reasonably possible”, according to the council. Inevitably this will lead to a mish mash of different trees/heights and the majesty of The Avenue will change entirely. The Avenue is more or less on the alignment of the boundary between the manors of Sunbury and Kempton. The road was laid out, the ‘town houses’ built at the southern end, and the trees planted c1890. The rest of the houses were added from c1930, at first on the western side only. Thanks to Nick Pollard of the Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society for the photos and information.

The wonderful photograph above shows The Avenue in 1904. no houses or tarmac and the most superb avenue of trees.

The same view above dates from 2009. Lets hope that we preserve the splendid sight of the Chestnuts for many more years to come.

The Avenue with army trucks during WW1