The site of the historic Kings Acre Lime tree can be found on Kings Acre Road west of Hereford: opposite Conifer Walk, and near the garden centre. In 2006 it was photographed as a large tree, but since then gales and decay have taken their toll and the remaining stump no longer has any leafy growth. All is not lost however, because the extensive rootstock of this small-leaved lime is still sprouting many new upright stems, and one of these can become a replacement lime tree in due course.

In the first week of September 2020 a working group including local tree wardens and an arboriculturalist went to remove most of the excess growth around the stump. Elder, plum, nettles and brambles were all cut away to give the remaining lime shoots room to grow more strongly.

Even the 2006 version of this tree was one in a line of reincarnations. Back in 1786 the lime tree on this spot was shown fully grown in a painting by James Wathen, with Kings Acre House included across the road. The tree seems to have been an important marker on the road west from Hereford. It once marked the junction of the Kington and Brecon roads, and also the boundary of the “liberty” of Hereford, under land jurisdiction that may go back even to Saxon times. In addition, according to Isaac Taylor's 1754 map it may also be the location of  the actual "Kings Acre”, which was land set aside by the king for a public assembly. 

The old tree and fallen wood today may look rather dead, but in fact they are not.  They are very important habitats for insects and many other invertebrates, as well as fungi, mosses, lichens, etc. 

As local historian David Whitehead has written, this tree also hosts  "the roots of local democracy". The tree will grow back, and this will remain a very important site that links Hereford’s intriguing history with new life today.

Reference for more historical detail: The Kings Acre lime: a little light on the early history of Hereford. By David Whitehead. Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 56, 2008.