It’s a sad day as the historic ‘Hardy Tree’ inside St Pancras Gardens has fallen.
Author Thomas Hardy, although best known for his novel ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’, was once an architect’s assistant who, in the 1860s, was put in charge of the exhumation of the Old St. Pancras Churchyard. Instructed by his supervisor Arthur Blomfield to manage this project, Hardy supposedly oversaw the removal of bodies and gravestones to make way for a railway line connecting St Pancras station to the Midlands. The gravestones were piled at the base of an ash tree which grew amongst the stones and was later named ‘The Hardy Tree’.
The quirky London landmark had been suffering with a fungal infection for many years and, according to Camden Council, had been further weakened by a heavy storm. In a statement in the summer, they recognised the cultural importance of the tree and were exploring ways to commemorate it.
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