The Once and Future Tree: Ontic Space, the Anthropocene, and the Sycamore Gap

Abstract The felling of the iconic tree at the Sycamore Gap in Northumberland, England, in September 2023 was met with national outrage. The tree was believed to be over 300 years old and was the subject of countless paintings, photographs, and social media posts, earning it the moniker of “most photographed tree in Britain”. The reaction to this act of vandalism went beyond expectation, with locals describing the loss as akin to a wound on the soul of the community. Mourners far and wide expressed similar outpourings of grief. In this paper, we explore how the natural world relates to questions of ontological security. We argue that the destruction of nature represents a violation of our sense of “home.” However, we also explore how the persistent dualism of human and nonhuman in Western thought is an ontological security mechanism. The Sycamore Gap Tree is a perfect distillation of this, as much of the media coverage has “untreed” the tree to such a degree that it is no longer part of the “natural” world but rather a part of the British “home” and national story. Stories of what the tree “saw” and “felt” dominated the news cycle. In presenting the tree as part of “our world,” these narratives reinforce a fundamental narrative of human ontological security in opposition to the natural world.