Sidmouth Arboretum

Sidmouth has a wonderful treescape, many trees are in public spaces such as Blackmore Gardens, Knowle and The Byes, and other fine trees can be seen around the valley including the trees in private gardens visible from the streets.

In 2010, members of the Chamber of Commerce approached the Town Council with the idea that the town's treescape should be protected and promoted as an asset to the tourist industry.

The Town Council resolved to back a community group that was set up with a remit to engage public interest in the trees and shrubs of the whole valley.

To establish a baseline, the group organised a major survey of the trees in the valley, the results can be seen if you click here.  They collaborated with Treeconomics to produce a report which can be seen here.

A website was established to catalogue the valley's significant trees, click here to see the catalogue.

The Arboretum Group now interact with residents and visitors in many ways:

- working with local schools

- arranging events such as the Tree Week in May

- labelling publicly accessible trees

- leading guided walks in the summer

- producing tree trail leaflets which are distributed free through the Tourist Information Office and local hotels, more about these if you click here. 

In 2019 an ambitious planting scheme began in conjunction with Sidmouth Town Council's Environment Committee.  More details can be seen on the news page.