Help preserve and celebrate one of the Preston Park Twins - The Oldest Known English Elms in the World. An iconic Elm in Brighton & Hove, one of the Preston Park Twins, and the oldest and largest English Elm in the world, had to be felled in 2019 due to Elm Disease. Since that time, Sussex-based artist Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva has been working tirelessly to preserve and celebrate this gracious tree.

From September 2022 Fabrica is working in partnership with Elpida to achieve this goal. Over the coming months and years Fabrica will be supporting the project through our fundraising capacity, our marketing resources and audience development expertise - so that Brighton & Hove's Elm heritage can be preserved and celebrated and its story more widely known.

An iconic Elm in Brighton & Hove, one of the Preston Park Twins, and the oldest and largest English Elm in the world, had to be felled due to Elm Disease in winter 2020. Please help us to preserve this gracious tree, transforming it into a celebration of the Preston Park Twins in Preston Park, where it will be enjoyed by the community for years to come.

Image: Artists impression (Sam Harris)

The tree is currently being chemically treated to prevent its degradation and has been installed in its original location at Preston Park. Much of the UK's original mature Elm population is lost. Brighton & Hove hosts the largest diversity of Elm for any city worldwide and plays a critically important role in preserving this species in Europe. Earlier in 2022 the second twin was dedicated to the late Queen Elizabeth II, to mark her Platinum Jubilee.

The current chemical processing of the felled tree ensures that the shape, form and size of the elm are preserved. Once this is complete, the interior of the tree will be gilded to create a new jewel for Preston Park and transforming the tree into a celebration of the Preston Park Twins' history and cultural significance.

Fabrica is delighted to be the most recent partner in this exciting artist-led project, joining Brighton & Hove Council City Parks, Connick Tree Care, Amazon Access Solutions, Brewers Decorator Centres, Toupret, Repair Care, Yates Scaffolding, the Friends of Preston Park, South Downs National Park, the National Lottery through Arts Council England and many other individuals and businesses who are supporting the project.

The project is working to raise awareness about the Elm disease control campaign and other research on diseases that threaten trees in general, by informing students, local people, visitors to the city, and the wider public about the history and consequences of this terrible disease, and the role that we can all play in preventing its spread and preserving this species.

These trees may be lost, but it is imperative they live on in our memory, knowledge and experience. This project is a vital opportunity to preserve and celebrate this disappearing past.