This tree is located in the Rookery, on Streatham Common. The Rookery is a lovely hidden gem, a formal walled garden sitting at the top of Streatham Common in south London. It feels surprisingly secretive and tucked away, given it's in the middle of the city, which is part of its charm. It was originally the grounds of a private house called The Rookery, built in the early 18th century. Streatham Common itself and the garden were eventually acquired by the London County Council in 1901 and opened to the public. The walled garden has a beautiful, slightly old-world feel with herbaceous borders, a white garden inspired loosely by the famous one at Sissinghurst, a small cascade and pond, and various secluded areas that make it feel larger than it is. This magnificent old Cedar tree (Cedrus libani) is ancient by any urban standard, believed to date back to when the original private estate was landscaped, possibly the 18th century. Cedar of Lebanon trees were enormously fashionable in English landscape gardens of that era, they became almost a status symbol for country houses and grand estates, partly because of their biblical and classical associations, and partly because their vast spreading canopy and dramatic horizontal branching made them visually spectacular. They grow very slowly, which means a large one represents centuries of continuity with the past in a way few living things in a city can.