Meikleour Beech Hedges
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The Meikleour Beech Hedge(s) (beech = Fagus sylvatica), located in Meikleour, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, alongside the A93 Perth to Blairgowrie Road, was planted in the autumn of 1746, the year of the Jacobite uprising, by Jean Mercer and her husband, Robert Murray Nairne on the Marquess of Lansdowne's Meikleour estate. It is said the hedge grows towards the heavens because the men who planted it were killed at the Battle of Culloden.
The hedge is noted in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest and longest hedge on earth, reaching an amazing 30 metres (100 ft) in height and 530 metres (1/3 mile) in length. A majestic site all year round, the hedge is at its best when the new leaf comes through in the spring and when the mid-autumn sun catches the glowing golds and browns. The hedge is trimmed once every ten years but remains open to visitors all year round.