This specimen is on the moat side of the Central Path, near the bridge.

A cultivar of the common hazel, Corylus avellana, which is native to Europe, including the British Isles.

Purchased from B and Q in Northampton. A gift of E Brown in memory of his grandaughter Emily Avellana Brown (2010 – 2017).

‘Red Majestic’ originated from a chance pollination in 1997 at Bad Zwischenahn, Germany of two unidentified selections of Corylus avellana. It is characterised by its compact and outwardly spreading to semi-weeping habit, twisting stems and rich dark burgundy coloured leaves and catkins. A plant patent was granted in 2005 and assigned to Spring Meadow Nursery, Grand Haven, Mitchigan, US by its inventor Rolf de Vries.

The origins of the corkscrew hazel are shrouded in mystery. The story usually involves an unnamed ecclesiastical gentleman who, under the influence of a strong alcoholic drink, steered his bicycle into a hedgerow and crashed into the ‘haywire hazel’ growing there. Before resuming his journey, he took a cutting which rooted. However, Lord Ducie claimed that he found the plant in a Frocester, Gloucestershire hedgerow. But when he visited a neighbour in 1863 he discovered thy both already had it in their collections. Lord Ducie did much to promote the plant as did Harry Lauder, the music hall artist, who used it as a theatrical prop; earning it the common name of Harry Lauder’s walking stick.