Stanhope Fossil Tree

About

The Stanhope tree was found in a sandstone quarry at Edmundbyers Cross, north of Stanhope, in 1915. Its discovery is recorded by this photograph in the Auckland and County Chronicle, dated 13 May 1915. The accompanying article also mentions another fossil tree, which was found in 1914 and taken to the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. The tree shown here was brought to Stanhope in the early 1960s, in large pieces which were reassembled in the churchyard.

There are also intriguing records of several other local fossil trees. This photograph shows two fossil trees – also from Edmundbyers Cross. The larger tree was taken to the Hancock Museum, and thus may be the same as the 1914 tree mentioned in the newspaper article above. Another tree, possibly the smaller of the two shown here, went to Muggleswick. Yet another fossil tree, which was discovered in later years by a bulldozer driver at Edmundbyers Cross, was taken to Durham University