Northumberland estate lights up world’s tallest living Christmas tree
Tree-mendous effort sees historic site earn world record accolade. Tony Henderson reports
Christmas has delivered a world record for an historic Northumberland visitor attraction.
A mighty decorated giant redwood at the National Trust’s Cragside estate has secured the Guinness World Records title for the World’s Tallest Bedded – or growing – Christmas Tree.
The 44.7m giant redwood (Sequoia wellingtonia) is dressed in over 1,300 lights, with the towering festive showstopper standing at more than twice the height of the Angel of the North.
It is one of millions of trees planted in the 1860s by the estate’s founders, William and Margaret Armstrong, some of which are now the tallest of their kind in the country.
Steve Howard, visitor operations manager, said: “It’s been quite the year of planning. Last year we presented the UK’s Tallest Living Christmas Tree, and we kept wondering if we could go one giant leap further and secure a Guinness World Records title… and we made it!”
Visitors will notice that in addition to the lights, the redwood is also dressed in two large purple bows to meet the criteria to have two traditional decorations on the Christmas tree.
The tree was officially measured with witnesses present and signed off by a Guinness World Records adjudicator when it was dressed.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Carl Saville said: “The breathtaking giant redwood, perched on the edge of the hillside, is a vision of growth and beauty in Cragside’s historic landscape. It was a privilege to give this tree the recognition it deserves.”
Steve Howard, visitor operations manager at Cragside, said: “It’s been tough keeping this big secret quiet over the last few weeks, but we wanted to share our news while many people are putting up their own Christmas trees.”
If you’re dressing a Christmas tree at home, spare a thought for the team unravelling almost 800 metres of lights to hang on the redwood.
To decorate a tree more than 10 double-decker buses tall saw the team use a cherry-picker which can reach 51 metres, and it took two days to hang the lights.
Every bulb is checked and then draped and fastened vertically so as not to put too much pressure on the tree, which has been part of Lord Armstrong’s ‘fantasy mountain landscape’ for over 150 years.
This is not the first time the grounds have been decorated in celebratory lights. In 1884, to commemorate a royal visit, the Armstrongs decorated the estate’s hillsides in thousands of lamps.
The then Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported: “Ten thousand small glass lamps were hung amongst the rocky hillsides, and an almost equal number of Chinese lanterns were swung across leafy glades.”
The tree’s multi-coloured lights echo the Christmas spectacle inside the house, with a theme that takes inspiration from a real servants’ ball held at Cragside in 1894.
It imagines that the Armstrong family have gone away for the festive season, and their staff are throwing a mischievous party. The rooms are in topsy-turvy colourful chaos as servants have abandoned their tasks to don their finest attire, ready for an evening of dancing.
The tree plays a starring role in BBC Two’s Christmas Treasures of the National Trust programme on Friday December 19 at 9pm and on iPlayer.
The episode looks behind the scenes at festive preparations around the Cragside estate.
Christmas at Cragside runs until Sunday January 4. General opening times 11am-3pm, last admission 2pm. Selected late evening opening dates, 11am-5pm, last admission 4pm. Cragside will close at the earlier time of 2pm on Christmas Eve and will be closed entirely on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.