Chiswick Cedar Climbed by The Beatles Up for Tree of the Year
Three-hundred-year-old tree featured in the 1966 video for Rain
The gigantic cedar of Lebanon in front of Chiswick House. Picture: Rosa Johnston/Flint / WTML
July 11, 2025
A short-list has been drawn up for Tree of the Year which includes a cedar of Lebanon in Chiswick House gardens.
The tree, which is believed to date back to the 1720s, was made globally famous when it featured in the 1966 music video made by The Beatles for Rain, the B-side of Paperback Writer.
The film shows George, John and Paul playing guitars sitting on the boughs of the tree while Ringo is perched on a plinth nearby. This shot was also used as the cover for their Nowhere Man EP. Children are seen climbing the tree in the background on a very sunny day in May.
Later scenes show the band walking through the conservatory.
It became a visual symbol of this period in the Beatles’ evolution—laid-back, psychedelic, and a bit surreal with the band sporting longer haircuts and mod-style clothing.
The Beatles’ choice to film in a peaceful, leafy English setting stood in contrast to the screaming crowds they had left behind on tour.
The tree is part of Chiswick House’s historic landscape, designed by Lord Burlington and William Kent and is one of several enormous cedars of Lebanon in the gardens which have said to have been admired by Queen Victoria, the Tsar of Russia and the Shah of Persia.
It has become a minor pilgrimage site for Beatles fans and is often referred to as the “Beatles tree”, with guided walks in the area pointing it out.
It is one of 10 shortlisted by the Woodland Trust for its annual competition and it will be up against trees from across the UK including an oak that is believed to have inspired Virginia Woolf and The Lollipop Tree on Salisbury Plain which appeared final scenes of Sam Mendes' World War One film 191.7
The entrants were selected to meet the theme of "Rooted in Culture", highlighting how trees have inspired creative minds and become ingrained in our cultural landscape.
Woodland Trust patron, Dame Judi Dench urged people to vote saying, "Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago. They are as much part of our heritage as any literature,"
Voting is open until 19 September and the winner, which will be announced on 26 September, will progress to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals.
Vote for the Beatles Tree in Chiswick House Gardens.
This page is sponsored by West London Queer Project who support community initiatives in Chiswick.
