Religious Education

(1) Symbolism. At the centre of the Tree Cathedral, the chancel, the nave, and the transepts together form a cross. This symbol, and its appropriateness in the Tree Cathedral, can be treated at different levels, starting with simple recognition at key stage 1 that it is the central symbol of Christianity. To many soldiers in the First World War, the cross stood for shared suffering and a willingness to serve others.

(2) Patterns of Worship. Other parts of the Tree Cathedral reflect the rituals used in Christian worship and can be used to introduce this topics, and for comparison with buildings used for worship in other religions.

(3) The Grace of Nature. The Tree Cathedral is also designed to draw attention to the way in which trees and other forms of wildlife can affect us spiritually. It does this by putting living beings in a pattern which we associate with a holy place. The trees are as far as possible allowed to grow freely and interact with the environment. They find their own rhythm and balance and they help us to find ours. All religions are aware of this healing power, and they describe our need for it in different ways.

On the way in which Christian symbols and the example of Christ were interpreted in the British Army in the First World War, compare John Keegan The Face of Battle (London 1976, reprinted 1998), 215-225, 269-285, and Paul Fussell (below) chapters 4 & 5.

In their treatment of nature, some religions regard individual trees as having spirits: the Indian Yakshi is particularly well illustrated. In other religions, stories like the Garden of Eden seem to deal with a whole ecology. A non-mythic treatment of the underlying relationship between the human mind and inanimate nature, and its value to humans, can be found in the collection of papers by the anthropologist Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972, reprint Chicago U.P. 2000).

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Life and Living Processes
The selection and spacing of the trees in the Tree Cathedral, and the pattern of mowing provides a wide variety of species in a small area. It is therefore well suited for introductory studies of topics such as the identification of trees and other plants, invertebrates, with their habitat, food chains, fungi, and the impact of alien species. At a more advanced level, the Tree Cathedral and the surrounding area give opportunities for distribution studies, especially of grasses.

Tree and plant list

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Biomechanics and Biochemistry
These topics do not form part of the Curriculum, until A-level or above, but they are relevant to other topics, and may be of interest as background.

Biomechanics. The ability of trees to shape themselves to resist gravity, and adjust their rhythmic response to winds, is important in the Tree Cathedral; and the species chosen show considerable variety in methods and outcomes. An outline understanding of the mechanical problems which the trees have to solve, and the strategies and processes by which they solve them, can help towards a deeper appreciation of the beauty and wonder of the trees.

Compare e.g. JE Gordon, Structures, or why things don't fall down (Penguin 1975 and reprints), M Coutts and J Grace (Eds.), Trees and Wind (CUP 1995 ).

Biochemistry. Again, appreciation of trees may be enhanced by knowledge, at an appropriate level, of the 'miracle' of their growth; that most of their solids are plucked from the air, virtually all their liquid (and the rest of the solids) drawn from the earth, and all the energy required to lift and build them supplied by sunlight. That animals, including ourselves, complete the cycle, consuming plants and returning the materials to the earth and the air, emphasises the bond between man and nature. The vulnerability of plant growth to quite small variations in the environment is shown in the Tree Cathedral by the failure of some species, notably the poplars.

This topic is treated in some detail at A-level. Parts of it are dealt with in a striking exhibition in the Natural History Museum in London. In some trees (notably silver birch) the sap can be heard rising in spring, by putting one's ear to the trunk.

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Geography
The Tree Cathedral, like the rest of Whipsnade and the Dunstable Downs, illustrates 20th-century changes in the use of marginal land within easy reach of the capital city and of a major manufacturing town. Conventional farming on the upland clay became uneconomic and attempts to diversify failed. However, the beauty of the area and its convenient position allowed the growth of an interesting pattern of commercial and non-commercial land-use.

A more extended account of the history of the Tree Cathedral and surrounding properties during the 20th century is available on request.

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History and English
The Tree Cathedral illustrates the importance of memories of the English countryside to soldiers in the First World War. It expresses (and helps us to share) a feeling about landscape and skyscape which had deep roots in English life and thought. That it was widely shared in the trenches is shown in many poems and letters of the time.

Compare e.g. Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory, London 1975 and reprr., especially chapter 7, with chapters 2, 4 and 5.