Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

Woodpeckers fell Kew’s famous pole

14 August 2007

Woodpeckers have been wreaking havoc with an attraction at Kew gardens in south-west London.

The Kew Flagpole, which was once the tallest flagpole in the world, is being brought down to earth.

Woodpeckers and rot are thought to be responsible for making the pole unsafe for flag flying.

A team of steeplejacks today began dismantling the wooden structure, which has already been shortened a number of times.

David Holroyd, Head of Estates at Kew, was quoted by the BBC® as saying: ‘Sadly our historic flagpole, once the tallest in the world, is no longer safe for flag flying.

‘Woodpecker action and decay have made it unsafe, so we have no alternative but to dismantle it – and it will be a major operation.’

The pole reached the height of its eminence when in 1959 when it entered the Guinness Book of Records. At that time it measured 225 ft (69 m).  

Metal flagpoles – which are not at the mercy of woodpeckers – can now be designed to be taller.

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