Featuring giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). Verified occurrence recorded by Redwood World. "Black Friars" is home to a very nice Giant Redwoood in Thetford. At the back of the garden of this house (adjacent to Whitehart Street) there is a plaque which is shown in the right hand picture above. It says, "In the corner of this garden is a large block of concrete with a bright steel pin in it. These concrete blocks can be found all around Thetford and were the mountings for 5" mortars. The formed part of the town's defences in WW2 when the threat of a German invasion was very real". A Redwood tree and a history lesson too, you don't get this on every web site you know!
Visit information
- Access
- Access unknown
- Last verified
- 10 Apr 2026
- Official site
- redwoodworld.co.uk/picturepages/thetford.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
About this place
About Thetford - Norwich Road
Thetford - Norwich Road is located in Thetford, Norfolk, 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.