The Great Hedge of Meikleour; Picture of the Week, 9 January 2013

There was an item yesterday on BBC's The One Show about the Great Hedge of Meikleour, which is the tallest Hedge in the world, as recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. It is 100 feet high, almost 600 yards long and over 250 years old so the Beech trees (fagus sylvatica) are not growing any taller and are past their prime; they were planted in1745, the year before the battle of Culloden.


The Great Hedge of Meikleour in winter, photo by John S. Gilbert

The Great Hedge of Meikleour is beside the A93 about 12 miles north of Perth in Scotland. It is kept in trim annually with the aid of loppers, not a chainsaw in sight! This photograph of the Meikleour hedge in winter was taken by my father, John Sinclair Gilbert, probably 40+ years ago. His mother was Scottish and he enjoyed many holidays north of the border as well as spending two years billeted in Edinburgh Castle whilst he was in the British Army.





There's a legend that Robert Murray Nairne of Meikleour was one of many hundreds of Jacobites who died at the battle of Culloden and his wife Jean Mercer allowed the hedge to grow up to heaven in his memory. What is more likely is that after the loss of so many men (most Jacobites who were not killed in the battle were taken prisoner and many were executed or transported to Australia) there was nobody with the time or enthusiam to trim the hedge.



More recent photographs can be seen at:-
http://www.perthshirebigtreecountry.co.uk/places/perth-blairgowrie/meikleour-beech-hedge