A hardy old tree

It is not known when the sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus was introduced to Britain but suggestions range from Roman times until as late at the 17th century.

There was certainly one in Dorset in 1834 when a group of agricultural labourers met under a sycamore in the village of Tolpuddle and formed a society to protest against their falling wages. In 1830 the wage of an agricultural labourer had been nine shillings, which would only be enough to buy a family enough bread for a week, let alone other food, rent and goods. In the following years their wage was reduced to eight shillings, and then to seven and in 1834 it went down to a mere six shillings. This was an extremely low wage and many found this impossible to live off.

While trade unions were legal by this point, swearing oaths in a society were not, and the members were arrested and found guilty. The Tolpuddle Martyrs, as they were to become known, were subsequently transported to Australia.

The Tolpuddle Tree has recently been dated and found to have been around 150 years old when the meeting took place. This puts the tree, which still stands today, at over 300 years years of age.