Featuring giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). Verified occurrence recorded by Redwood World. This Giant Redwood can be found in a farmer's field next to the late 15th or early 16th century Southfields Manor House. There are sixty-one Listed Buildings in Dedham and Southfields is one of the four Grade I buildings, along with the parish church, (work started on the Parish Church of St Mary, Dedham, in 1492), the Grammar School and Shermans, founded in 1599. Southfields Manor House is a timber-framed pink house, whose upper storeys were originally reached by external staircases. Dedham is an ideal village to stroll around on a warm summer's afternoon. Take tea at The Essex Rose Tea House perhaps, which dates back to medieval times. The premises were used as a house until the early twentieth century and was converted to a shop in the 1940's. The building has been used as a tearoom ever since then. One can also walk along the river banks from Dedham to Flatford Mill and it is just a twenty minute stroll past Southfields to reach the Munnings Museum .
Visit information
- Access
- Access unknown
- Last verified
- 10 Apr 2026
- Official site
- redwoodworld.co.uk/picturepages/dedham6.htm
Redwood species here
Native to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, giant sequoias were introduced to Britain in the 1850s during the Victorian plant-collecting era. They are the world's most massive trees by volume and have thrived in the UK's mild, wet climate, often growing faster than in parts of their native range. Many Victorian-era plantings now rival mature specimens in California.
Present. Native to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, giant sequoias were introduced to Britain in the 1850s during the Victorian plant-collecting era. They are the world's most massive trees by volume
Native to the fog belt of coastal California and Oregon, coast redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth. In Britain they thrive where rainfall, humidity, and sheltered woodland conditions echo their native range, forming narrow, soaring avenues and groves with reddish fibrous bark and flat fern-like foliage.
Present. The tallest trees on Earth, coast redwoods can exceed 100 metres in their native California. Less common in Britain than giant sequoias, they prefer sheltered, moist locations and can still reach impr
Dawn redwood is a deciduous redwood from China, known from fossils before living trees were documented in the 1940s. It reached British collections soon afterwards and is now found in parks, botanic gardens, and arboreta, where its soft summer foliage and rusty autumn colour make it distinct from evergreen giant sequoias and coast redwoods.
Present. A deciduous conifer thought to be extinct until rediscovered in a remote Chinese province in 1941. Seeds were distributed to botanical gardens worldwide in the late 1940s. Unlike its evergreen relativ
Field observations
Photos
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Redwood at Dedham - Southfields
About this place
About Dedham - Southfields
Dedham - Southfields is located in Dedham, Essex, England.
Species Present
Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Native to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, giant sequoias were introduced to Britain in the 1850s during the Victorian plant-collecting era. They are the world's most massive trees by volume and have thrived in the UK's mild, wet climate, often growing faster than in their native range. Many Victorian-era plantings now rival mature specimens in California.
Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
The tallest trees on Earth, coast redwoods can exceed 100 metres in their native California. Less common in Britain than giant sequoias, they prefer sheltered, moist locations and can still reach impressive heights in the UK. The tallest known coast redwood in Britain is over 50 metres.
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
A deciduous conifer thought to be extinct until rediscovered in a remote Chinese province in 1941. Seeds were distributed to botanical gardens worldwide in the late 1940s. Unlike its evergreen relatives, the dawn redwood loses its needles in winter, turning a striking copper-bronze in autumn.
Data sourced from Redwood World (redwoodworld.co.uk) and enriched by Redwood Finder.