AT exactly 11am on Friday, October 17th, while the bells of St Mary's Church chimed the hour, the hundred year old sequoia tree, which stood in the way of the excavation of archaelogical remains at the Prospect, toppled to the ground.

The tree was felled by Acer Tree Services on the instructions of Herefordshire Council as they wish to create a public viewing facility for a display of the excavations discovered during works to repair a listed wall following its partial collapse. The foundations of a square building with thick masonry walls and an internal circular plan with dished clay floor and central post-hole were revealed.

Work to rebuild the listed wall will continue and the sequoia tree will be replaced as part of a conservation plan for the area.

The Prospect is an area of ornamental parkland originally laid out by John Kyrle following his lease of the land in 1696. It provided wide-ranging views over the border countryside. The parkland was remodelled in the Victorian style with ornamental beds and tree planting in the mid 1800s.