This fig tree at Lambeth Palace was planted in 1556 by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Pole. It's thought that he brought the tree from southern Italy, where he spent a lot of time.

(Quote)   Lambeth Palace Fig Tree Cutting

The Ficus carica ‘White  Marseilles’ fig tree was brought to Lambeth Palace by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole in 1556.  It probably came from southern Italy where Pole spent a lot of time.  The fruits are white fleshed and very rich and sweet, they are ripe when the skins turn a chartreuse colour and start to split. 

At Lambeth Palace the huge trees grow against the east-facing walls of the Great Hall in the sheltered main court yard.  We get two crops in a good year, firstly in early July from over-wintered embryo fruits and then a second crop in late September on the current season’s growth, the second crop being the best with their thicker skinned fruits that melt in the mouth!

This cutting has been taken from the tree planted by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury and thus it represents the common heritage of our two churches. Having been brought to Lambeth by Pole it is fitting that it now, finally, arrives in Rome so that the one tree will bear fruit in Lambeth and Rome as a visible sign of our own and our churches relationship growing and bearing fruit from the same source   (Quote)  Here's the link  http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5346/archbishop-justins-gifts-for-pope-francis

 

WOW!

I meant to say more but I was impressed by this tree!  So it's a White  Marseilles.  What a beautiful and meaningful fig tree "a visible sign of our own and our churches relationship growing and bearing fruit from the same source"

WHOA! Man, all these old / unusual fig tree picture are just awesome. Thanks for sharing!

I'm sorry to spoil the enthusiasm, but it's impossible that this tree is 460 years old.
First, a fig tree doesn't live so long, secondly in winter 1683-84, Thames was completely frozen for three months,
between 1608-95,Thames was frozen 12 times, and even up to 1814, last time.
How can a fig tree pass all of these extreme weather events as well?

Wow awesome and amazing! Thank you for sharing.

Fico, How old would you say this fig tree is? in Dunwich England According to the owner it's roughly 300 years old    http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/the-ship-inn-dunwich-suffolk-champion-fig-tree-6229173

      

Did the chiswick fig collection ended because of the frosts?

http://www.figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/england-–-chiswick-fig-collection-6224028

Maybe the roots are 460 yrs old and the top has been frozen back to the ground at various intervals. The tree in England looks very old. The trunks of the tree at Lambeth palace don't look anywhere near that old. A 460 yr old fig should have a trunk 3-6ft diameter.

When I was in Peru there was supposed to be a 600 yr old fig planted buy Pazaro in the court yard of the original Presidential Palace .
I thought it would be cooll to pinch a cutting .
But The day we wer to go tour the palace there was a political demonstration and the square was closed .

Oh my both of these trees are truly old garden earth spirits.  Wow oh wow what a legacy their old gnarly trunks represent.  Wonderful to see the pictures of these ancient ones.  Bravo to those who have cared for them all these centuries and to the trees for surviving how ever long they have.  It is inspiring to see.  Go figs. 

Hi,
In post1, the trunks are too thin too be that old. There could be an hidden trunk in the background though.
Remember that this tree is not in an open field, but in a yard of a house in town.
Each time that the cold sets in, the human beings will heat the house a bit more, and the house will act as an heat sink.
Nearby river will make the temps milder too.
So in a cold climate, a fig tree in such a spot is in the best place you can dream of.
The elusive "white Marseilles" ... It never made it to my eastern France nurseries ... Funny, ain't it ?

In post9, that tree is definitively older than us ... :)

I do not doubt that this plant is very old, but in Europe end north America, in past centuries, there was the "Little Ice Age", and i assure you that in north Italy also died apple, plum, cherry and pear trees sometimes.
You think that sometimes are also frozen harbors, like Marseilles and Genoa in 1709, end even the mouth of the Tagus in Lisbon!

i wonder if they could spare a few cuttings ?


FYI....
i want a cutting from this one LOL...
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One of the most famous species of Banyan, called the Sacred Fig [wiki] or Bo tree, is the Sri Maha Bodhi [wiki] tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is said that the tree was grown from a cutting from the original tree under which Buddha became enlightened in the 6th century BC.

Planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world, with a definitive planting date!

List of famous fig trees

• Ashvattha – the world tree of Hinduism, held to be a supernatural F. religiosa
• Bodhi tree – a F. religiosa
• Charybdis Fig Tree of the Odyssey, presumably a F. carica
• Curtain Fig Tree – a F. virens
• Ficus Ruminalis – a F. carica
• Plaksa – another supernatural fig in Hinduism; usually identified as F. religiosa but probably F. infectoria
• Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree – a F. macrophylla
• Sri Maha Bodhi – another F. religiosa, planted in 288 BCE, the oldest human-planted tree on record
• The Great Banyan – a F. benghalensis, a clonal colony and once the largest organism known
• Vidurashwatha – "Vidura's Sacred Fig tree", a village in India named after a famous F. religiosa that until recently stood there
• Wonderboom - the largest fig tree, in Pretoria, South Africa

That is an awesome photo of the fig tree in Dunwich England!
Does it still produce figs?
I would love to go see it and eat some fig.

Pino
Apparently it produces plenty of figs that never ripen, probably not enough heat.
Follow the link in post #9.