Curses & omens

The Tree of Doom at Cuckfield Park

Cuckfield Park, Cuckfield

Reported by Ainsworth, 1834 or earlier; undated belief

Wikipedia's article on Cuckfield Park lists the Tree of Doom among the house's folk tales. The story is that a tree in the grounds sheds one of its branches when a member of the owning family dies.

The tale is described there as appearing in the novel Rookwood. In the passage quoted in the article, the novelist says the harbinger of doom to the fictional house of Rookwood is ascribed by popular superstition to a family resident in Sussex, on whose estate the fatal tree, a gigantic lime with mighty arms and a huge girth of trunk, is still carefully preserved.

So the omen is attested by a novelist reporting a popular belief, not by a dated death. The same article records the Sergison family custom of placing their dead in the gatehouse, with a funeral procession leaving at midnight as the clock struck, until the practice was dropped in 1914. Together they show a house with an unusually strong tradition of death lore, but nothing here confirms the tree's behaviour.

This site is private property or has no public access. Coordinates shown are rounded and no directions are offered.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Private property
Location
51.003, -0.155 (Sited to the building or field)

Sources: Wikipedia, "Cuckfield Park" [other]

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