The Seven Sisters is a clump of

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

trees on Cothelstone Hill in the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

, England. Originally planted in the 18th century, they form a well-known and prominent landmark visible from large areas of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. The hill is currently leased to the

South West Heritage Trust The South West Heritage Trust is a charity which was formed in 2014. It is involved in the preservation and management of the heritage of Somerset and Devon. In 2014 the trust took over the management of local archives for the Devon Record Offic ...

by its owner

Somerset County Council Somerset ( , ), archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to ...

, and managed by the Quantock Hills AONB Service under a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. Three large trees remain from the original planting, while recently planted replacements grow nearby.

History

The trees are sited on a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

disc barrow near the summit of Cothelstone Hill. They are thought to have originally been planted by Mary Hill, Lady Hillsborough (1726-1780) in the later 18th century; Hill also planted two other circles of beeches in the area and built an ornamental folly, Cothelstone Beacon or Beacon Tower, nearby. A newspaper article of the time referred to "Cotherston, the place in Somersetshire, where lady Hilsborough has lately raised a small structure for the purpose of prospect, is so much prized for its situation that several gentlemen of the county offered, if her ladyship would have given her consent, to have subscribed £2,000 and laid out the money in a building more conspicuous". Originally a clump of 15 trees, over time they were reduced to seven and, known as the "Seven Sisters", became a well-known landmark. Similar hilltop groves of beeches, or

tree ring Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate ...

s, are a common feature of 18th and 19th century landscape planting; other well-known examples include

Wittenham Clumps Wittenham Clumps are a pair of wooded chalk hills in the Thames Valley, in the civil parish of Little Wittenham, in the historic county of Berkshire, although since 1974 administered as part of South Oxfordshire district. The higher of the two ...

. Beacon Tower was largely destroyed during a storm in 1910 and only a few stones now remain. As the trees were approaching the end of their lives, in the 1970s a new clump of seven beeches was planted immediately to the south-west: several of the originals fell in gales in the early 2000s. By 2014,

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

determined that the 1970s planting was potentially causing damage to underlying archaeology and stated that the newer trees would be felled, leading to a local campaign to retain them. After representations by Friends of Quantock and preparation of a planting scheme, additional trees were planted in late 2015 to ensure continuation of the landmark.

References

{{reflist Geography of Somerset