Featuring dawn redwood. Verified occurrence recorded by Redwood World. A visit was paid to see this Giant Redwood thanks to the mention of a Wellingtonia behind St. Mary's church on the Dorset Online Parish Clerks website. A fabulous tree, it has obviously not been crowded by other trees during its growth, so its lush foliage extends right to the ground like a grand cloak. This is one of the great things about these trees, they look superb with branches extending to the ground, but equally stunnning when their trunk is exposed displaying the rich cinnamon-coloured bark and graceful yet sturdy buttress shape. As the photograph shows, the lower branches really do have a peculiar pre-historic feel about them when you stand within the foliage amongst their downward arching shapes. You have to be there to get the full effect! As a bonus, in a garden adjacent to the churchyard stands a relatively young Dawn Redwood.
Visit information
- Access
- Open to public
- Last verified
- 10 Apr 2026
- Official site
- redwoodworld.co.uk/picturepages/sturminsternewton3.htm
Redwood species here
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
-
Redwood at Sturminster Newton - St Mary's church
About this place
About Sturminster Newton - St Mary's church
Sturminster Newton - St Mary's church is located in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, 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.
Access
This location appears to be publicly accessible. Please check locally for current opening times and any admission charges.
Data sourced from Redwood World (redwoodworld.co.uk) and enriched by Redwood Finder.