A tree – donated by Buckingham Palace – is being planted in Taunton to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III.

The red oak will be formally planted in the Sensory Garden at Vivary Park by the Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset, Mohammed Saddiq, assisted by the Chair of Somerset Council, Councillor Mike Best. It will be blessed by the Rev Tobie Osmond, Vicar of Taunton Minster.

Also present at the tree planting will be the recipients of three “Tree of Trees” – part of a giant sculpture erected outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 – which were gifted to Somerset when the sculpture was dismantled.

The impressive “Tree of Trees” consisted of 80 steel “branches” holding 350 saplings in aluminium pots bearing The Queen’s cypher. Every county received at least one tree and the Somerset recipients were:

Weston College

Bishop Fox’s School in Taunton

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in Somerset

Children and students from each will be there to witness the planting of The King’s red oak.

Somerset’s Lord-Lieutenant, Mohammed Saddiq, said:

It will be a very special occasion indeed and a lasting memorial to an important moment in our history.

Image credit: Jonathan Banks / Heatherwick Studio