National Trust announces creative commission to connect with nature
Two years on from the illegal felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, the National Trust is today announcing a major creative commission, inviting artists, organisations and creative agencies to breathe new life into the wood saved from the felled tree.
One of Britain’s most loved and photographed trees, the sycamore was an emblem for the north-east of England and visited by people from around the world.
Its unexpected felling on 28 September 2023 led to an outpouring of emotion across the UK – and globally. It also sparked a widespread conversation about our relationship with nature.
The charity says the commission seeks to turn that loss into a ‘sense of hope, creative possibility, and reconnection with the natural world.’ Approximately half of the tree’s timber will be made available for the new project.
The charity is asking people for proposals to set out how the wood and the story of the Sycamore Gap can be used to explore themes set around a connection to nature, memory, place and / or community.
It adds that final concepts should reflect the National Trust’s wider goals of restoring nature with a goal of ending unequal access to nature.
‘Two years ago, we lost something very special from a much-loved landscape,’ says Annie Reilly, the National Trust’s Public Engagement Director.
‘This commission is a way of marking that iconic tree’s legacy while continuing an important conversation about our collective relationship with nature.’
‘To connect with nature and the landscapes’
‘After carefully looking after the wood since the felling, we’re now ready to bring it back to the people, in a completely new and transformed way.’
‘We want artists and organisations to come up with proposals that will inspire the public to connect with nature and the landscapes around them, using the timber as a symbolic focal point.’
‘It could be a design for a single artwork for one location or several pieces or something more dispersed or participatory. We want to reach and engage many people and can’t wait to see the ideas.’
Photography: Roger Clegg / National Trust Images
The commission is part of a wider public engagement programme and is supported by the Sycamore Gap Partnership Board, which includes Northumberland National Park Authority (NNPA), Historic England and the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership.
An open call for expressions of interest will begin at 09.00hrs on Monday 13 October 2025 and close at 17.00hrs on 17 November 2025.
Five artists, or collaborations, will be shortlisted and awarded £5,000 to develop detailed proposals. The shortlisted artists will be given access to a catalogue of the wood available to develop their proposals.
The results will be judged by experts from the sector, with a public vote to help determine the winner. In February 2026, the winning proposal will be announced.
The Sycamore Gap seedlings at the National Trust Plant Conservation Centre, August 2024. Photography: James Dobson / National Trust Images.
Breaktime News has previously reported on the Trees of Hope initiative. The charity says 49 saplings, grown from the original sycamore, will be planted in communities across the UK this winter.
The largest remaining section of the tree is now on permanent display as part of an exhibition at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, which has been extremely popular with visitors to the Hadrian’s Wall area over the summer.
