Robin Hood Prince of Thieves director speaks out on felling of Sycamore Gap tree

26 October 2023 , 09:42

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The Sycamore Gap tree in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

The Hollywood director of 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' has attacked the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree as "despicable" and "senseless".

Kevin Reynolds was the man behind the 1991 Hollywood blockbuster, which featured the tree in one of its most famous scenes. The popular movie, starring Kevin Costner, brought the beautiful spot on Hadrian's Wall to the attention of the world.

It sparked huge interest and a trail of tourists who headed for Northumberland to see the tree for themselves. Reynolds told how he heard about it being cut down while on a boat off the coast of Turkey, after the news spread around the globe.

"I was just stunned. I was gutted. Then I was furious," he said. He was a college student visiting the UK from America when he first set eyes on the tree. "It just blew me away," he said. "And that was before I even knew what Sycamore Gap was. So years later, when we were scouting locations for the movie, I said, 'let's go up to Hadrian's Wall, I want to see this place'."

Walkers stop for lunch at the base of the felled Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland (Newcastle Chronicle)

The crew brought equipment to the hills surrounding the tree and had to contend with changeable weather during the shoot. It was said Costner joked with locals that it was colder than when he filmed 'Dances with Wolves' in South Dakota. "Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall was one of the most quintessentially idyllic spots in the world and now it's gone, it's murdered, and for what reason?," said Reynolds.

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"Would you destroy the Taj Mahal, the Gullfoss Falls in Iceland or the Big Dipper?" The tree was cut down on the night of 27 September and, in the following days, two people were arrested. A 16-year-old boy and a man in his 60s were held on suspicion of criminal damage and subsequently released on bail. When it fell, it caused damage to Hadrian's Wall and the tree has since been cut up and removed from the area.

National Trust general manager for Hadrian's Wall Andrew Poad told the Mirror today how the film made the tree 'a star'. "It transformed its profile, it became known as Kevin Costner's tree," he said. "You could see people coming to get photos and children recreating the scene in the film when the little boy runs up to it.

The tree was mysteriously felled in late September (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

"Like many Hollywood stars, the tree then had a second career. The advent of smartphones and all those social media photos gave it a new lease of life before it was made Tree of the Year in 2016." He added: "Like a bereavement, particularly when you lose people close to you, it's often months down the line before it really impacts on you."

The loss of the tree was also felt by chef and Hairy Biker Si King, who described the act of vandalism as an "affront to anybody who loves the natural world" and the North East's "sense of place".

He said: "It was very special to my community. Sycamore Gap is on a very precious headstone of a young man who lost his life that we're very close to."

It was planted in the 1800s by John Clayton and, due to its age, Reynolds believes no matter what is done, the damage is permanent. Director Reynolds told the BBC: "I guess trying to find a bright side, I am just grateful that we managed to get it on film so that people can see what it was and how glorious it was. But it will never be the same."

Jeremy Armstrong