The Copper Beech of Overschie

In 1899 lightning burned down Overschie's medieval church. A new Grote Kerk went up, and in 1901, once it was finished, a gardener named Voorhorst planted a copper beech on the church's ground. This is that beech. The national register of monumental trees, which tells the story, also does the arithmetic. The young tree was probably five to seven years old when Voorhorst put it in, which makes it about 130 years old now. A planting year, an occasion and a gardener's name, all on one tree. There were once two. The register says a second copper beech was lost to a strong westerly wind; this one is the survivor. You do not need to go through a gate to see it. The register puts it about six metres back from the Overschiese Dorpsstraat, opposite number 100, and says it is easy to see from the public road. Copper beeches open their leaves purple in spring and turn copper before they fall, so the same tree reads differently in April and in October. One caveat, stated plainly. The most recent photograph we could find dates from 2021, and a register cannot say whether a tree still stands. If you pass the church, tell us it is there, and if you have a tape measure, how far round it has grown in 130 years.