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Meikleour Beech Hedge
Meikleour beech
hedge is truly extraordinary, and the
world's tallest:
Situated on the
A93, the main road from Perth to Braemar, about 10 miles east of Dunkeld, the
hedge is made entirely of beech trees. It is approximately 580 yards
(540 metres) long, and averages 100 feet (30 metres) high, peaking at 120 feet
(36 metres) at the north end.
The hedge is thought to
have been laid in the autumn of 1745, by Jean Mercer of Meikleour, and her
husband Robert Murray Nairne, to give shelter to their house and to denote the
eastern boundary of their land. Shortly afterwards, Robert Nairne
was called away to fight at Culloden, and did not return. Jean Mercer
left to seek sanctuary in Edinburgh with friends, and the hedge was allowed to
grow uncontrolled.
The hedge is
hugely impressive as you walk or drive past, towering over cars and lorries,
and stretching for 1/3 of a mile beside the road. I stumbled upon it
unexpectedly whilst heading north to visit friends last summer, and was
obliged to stop and admire it. The scale of the hedge is quite
remarkable, and hard to do justice to with a photograph. Apparently
it looks ever better later in the year as autumn sets in, becoming a blaze of
colour.
The hedge is now
maintained by the Meikleour Trust, who cut and re-measure it every 10 years.
This is a major task, taking 4 men 6 weeks to complete, with much of it being
done by hand.
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