Freedom Tree - St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 49° 11.038 W 002° 07.057
30U E 564301 N 5448280
This statute in the shape of an oak tree was unveiled by HRH Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands.
Waymark Code: WMM49J
Location: Jersey
Date Posted: 07/19/2014
Views: 10
The 18-foot-high 3 1/2-ton bronze Freedom Tree forms the centrepiece of a public area called La Pieche de L'Av'nin - Place of the Future - overlooking the Elizabeth Marina.
It was installed when the area was being redeveloped for public use and two years later the new Radisson Blu Hotel opened in front of the sculpture.
The tree has 12 acorns which represent the 12 parishes of the island. The tree was designed by Richard Perry and he he collaborated with Linda Rose Parkes a Jersey born poet. When deciding a theme for the poem she said that she thought about the Liberation monument that had been erected on the 50th Anniversary of the liberation and felt that it was now time to look forward to the future.
The poem, the text of which can be seen on Linda Rose Parkes
website is engraved on the stone steps of the platform that the tree stands on.
There is also a stone tablet next to the tree with the following text.
FREEDOM TREE
UNVEILED BY
Her Majesty The Queen
on 9th May 2005
The scupture and poem were
commissioned to commemorate the
60th anniversary of the Liberation
of the people of Jersey.
The tree represents, freedom, peace
and hope for the future.
Jersey Public Sculpture Trust