The Hardy Tree fell down in St Pancras Gardens last month [Simon Lamrock]

NATURE-LOVER Thomas Hardy believed trees were sentient and famously refused to let his gardener prune them for fear of hurting their feelings.

He had insisted the weeping ash in St Pancras Gardens named after him grew after a passing bird dropped a seed between a mound of disturbed gravestones.

This week, the Thomas Hardy Society said it would be fitting to replace the tree with a “natural monument” – a living home for beetles and bugs – after it died following a battle with a parasitic fungus.

Dr Tracy Hayes, secretary of the Thomas Hardy Society, said: “The Thomas Hardy Society was greatly saddened by the demise of the Hardy Tree at St Pancras, though we had been expecting it for a long time. It had been diseased for many years, and Camden Council did their best to tend to it and keep it safe, but alas its end was inevitable.”

She said the society thought a natural monument would be most appropriate – some kind of garden or wildlife area devoted to his memory, adding: “I think he would have appreciated this, not being one for self-commemoration.”

Thomas Hardy and the tree before it fell

The New Journal broke the news about the tree falling last week, triggering a raft of articles in national – and international – newspapers. The ash grew up through a mound of gravestones moved during a major railway construction project Hardy had been working on as a young architect in the 19th century.

He later switched careers and became a literary giant who authored Tess of d’Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, among other novels along with many poems, including one about T’he Levelled Churchyard’ he had worked on.

In that poem he described how the remains in the graves dumped on top of each other were turned to “human jam” while he wrote about trees being self-aware in his novel The Woodlanders, which is rich with “sylvan imagery”. Some historians have insisted the tree could have nothing to do with Hardy as it did not exist in black and white photos of Old St Pancras yard in the 1920s.

Its connection with the poet has been described as one of “the great myths” of London. Despite the tree’s rings being visible, Camden Council said this week it could not yet confirm the age of the Hardy Tree, adding that it was working to remove one of the graves that got stuck in the roots when the tree uprooted on December 27.

Simon Lamrock’s photo of the fallen tree after Boxing Day

Broadcaster Jon Snow told the New Journal: “If at all possible we should somehow plant an already mature tree in concert with the lost Hardy Tree – a big task but I’m sure we could attract funding.”

The council has said it was working with the “local community” to come up with a fitting memorial while also “allowing elements of it to benefit biodiversity”.

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We recognise the importance of the Hardy Tree, which is why we are looking into ways to commemorate this tree alongside members of the local community and the Thomas Hardy Society, as well as allowing elements of it to benefit local biodiversity.”