Chichester re-commemorates the 1953 Coronation
Alan H J Green
Last year I was asked by the Novium to research the celebration of the 1953 Coronation in Chichester and write a piece for their monthly page in the Chichester Observer. This I duly did, but ended up with more material than could be accommodated in the space available, so a longer version of that article will appear in the 2023 edition of Chichester History.
During my researches I discovered that a Coronation Tree had been planted in Jubilee Gardens by the Mayor, Alice Eastland. Knowing that the jubilee trees in said gardens are all marked by cast plaques, I set off to find it but I drew a blank – no such plaque exists. I then embarked on a lengthy quest to identify said tree; all I had to go on was that it was a cedar!
I was advised by the current groundsman at Priory Park that there had been a plaque but it had either been stolen or vandalised before his time and the remains did not exist in his shed. I contacted several people whom I thought might know, and they spoke to other people they thought might know, and I was given a couple of steers. It was then time to call in an expert arboriculturalist, in the form of Society Member Brian Hopkins. By measuring the girth of trees he is able, within a year or two to establish the age of a tree of a known species, and he thus quickly eliminated the two steers I had received. However, he went back to examine the other unmarked specimens of the genus Cedrus and this time success – he found a cedar of exactly the right age.
Now, it being the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth it seemed an appropriate time to get a new plaque made, so I put the idea to my District Councillor (CDC had inherited Jubilee Gardens from the City Council in 1974) but doubts were expressed about whether it was their responsibility (it was) and whether it could be afforded. I provided some wording for the plaque based upon the existing plaques, which had to be adapted as the tree was not planted on the actual day, as had all the others, but the day after as Alice Eastland had been invited to Westminster Abbey to attend the ceremony – one of the few provincial mayors to be so honoured.
I had no luck with this tack, but in October 2022 I was at a meeting where two District Councillors of different flavours were in attendance, and at the end of the meeting I raised the matter and said how shameful it was that for the sake of a few quid the 1953 Coronation Tree could not regain its identity, especially as the Queen had now died. This did the trick; inter-party rivalry saw the idea taken to Cabinet straightway where it was agreed. I was contacted again about the design and I requested that it be a casting and not one of those engraved efforts from Timpsons. This too was agreed and it was duly ordered from the foundry.
On 23 March 2023 I met a representative of CDC Parks and Gardens on site to identify the tree in question and the smart new plaque was planted.
So where is this tree I hear you ask? Well, if you go to the north end of Jubilee Gardens and look for the plaque attached to the East Wall by means of which the Mayor so politely requests you to assist in not damaging the trees, and turn and look across No 5 New Park Road you will see the tree ahead of you. Look down and behold the plaque – it only took a year to get it!
By the way, did you know that a large Coronation Window was installed in the Cathedral in 1953, paid for by all the boroughs in Sussex? No? Well that is not surprising as it does not feature in guide books and most of the cathedral guides are not aware of it either. But that’s another story!