The Plane of the Sint Jorisschool

roughly 175 to 185 years, from the register's planting band of 1840 to 1850London Plane

See the walk past Amersfoort's other trees →

Which one is it? One enormous plane rising alone out of a walled schoolyard set below the level of the quay, its crown far wider than the yard, flaking cream and olive bark on a single straight trunk.

When the Sint Jorisschool went up in 1910 this plane was already seventy years old, and the builders left it where it was. It has stood in a schoolyard ever since. It was planted between 1840 and 1850, when the site was still a green strip along the quay of the river Eem. The strip was built over in 1910 and the new school opened with four classes on the quay side, with a full grown tree already in front of it. That building came down in 1992 and its replacement went up straight away. The register notes, drily, that the tree was reasonably well protected during the works. It is close to two hundred years old now, six metres round at chest height and 27.8 metres tall, with a crown twenty-seven metres across, which is wider than the yard it stands in. Benches used to ring the base for the pupils. At the end of 2021 the paving came out and the yard was resurfaced in wood chips, some of the benches were taken away, and the children moved onto the roots instead. The register's verdict on that, after everything else this tree has absorbed: it seems to cope well. You can see the whole crown from the quay.

Been here? Worth the visit?

The button above opens directions in your maps app. About 15 minutes on foot from Amersfoort Centraal, on the Schimmelpenninckkade beside the Eem.

Species: London Plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
Age estimate: roughly 175 to 185 years, from the register's planting band of 1840 to 1850
Location: Schoolyard of the Sint Jorisschool, Schimmelpenninckkade, Amersfoort (Binnenstad, on the Eem quay)
Access: Free to look at. The tree stands on the Sint Jorisschool playground and the whole crown is in view from the Schimmelpenninckkade, which is a public quay. The register lists it as visitable, but it is a working schoolyard, so stand on the quay rather than walking in.
Getting there: About 15 minutes on foot from Amersfoort Centraal, on the Schimmelpenninckkade beside the Eem.

Trees nearby

The Copper Beech of the Xaverius Churchroughly 185 to 195 years, from the register's planting band of 1830 to 1840 · 150 m away The Copper Beech behind the Amershofroughly 135 to 145 years, from the register's planting band of 1880 to 1890 · 660 m away The Plane of the Snouckaertlaanroughly 185 to 195 years, from the register's planting band of 1830 to 1840 · 740 m away

Curious what else is standing in Amersfoort? See all 8 remarkable ancient trees in Amersfoort or find out what the oldest tree in Amersfoort is. It is a London Plane; see every london plane on the site.

Collect the trees you stand in front of

Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.

Get the app

We could use your help.

This page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.

Correct a detail on this page Suggest another tree