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A towering beech hedge lines a curving country road beside open fields.
Perthshire

Meikleour Beech Hedge

A beech hedge beside the A93 near Meikleour, planted in 1745, a third of a mile long and around 30 metres high, the tallest hedge in the world.

Welcome

Four miles south of Blairgowrie, the A93 runs for a third of a mile beside a green wall of beech so tall it seems to lean over the road.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

The Meikleour Beech Hedge is 530 metres long and on average over 30 metres high, rising to more than 36 metres at its northern end, the tallest hedge in the world.

It was planted in the autumn of 1745 by Robert Murray Nairne and his wife, Jean Mercer, of the Meikleour estate. The next spring Robert was killed at Culloden, and Jean left for Edinburgh; the hedge, the story goes, was left to grow towards the heavens in his memory. It has been kept ever since, and cutting it is no small job: four men spend around six weeks on it.

The hedge can be seen at any time from the layby at its southern end. It turns copper in autumn and holds its dead leaves through the winter.

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Before you go

The hedge runs along the roadside and can be seen at any time.

There is a layby at its southern end; the road is busy, so it is best looked at from there.

Where
The A93, four miles south of Blairgowrie and ten miles north of Perth, by Meikleour.
Parking
A layby at the southern end.

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Did you know

The Meikleour Beech Hedge rises beside a country road, dwarfing a mature tree at its edge.
Did you know

Taller at one end.

It rises from at least 24 metres at its southern end to at least 36 metres at its northern end.

A towering beech hedge lines a curving country road beside open fields.
Did you know

A costly haircut.

The cut of 2019 cost £90,000, and takes four men around six weeks.

An information board describing the Meikleour Beech Hedge stands among trees.
Did you know

Planted before Culloden.

It went in during the autumn of 1745; the man who planted it was killed at Culloden the next April.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Perthshire

The word ‘hedge’ barely does justice to this gargantuan green wall, which stretches for more than half a kilometre and looms up to a height of 30 metres, granting it a spot in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest hedge on the planet. Dating back to 1745, the hedge now gets cut once a decade: a six-week task requiring a team of four.

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Where it is

On the A93 by the village of Meikleour, between Perth and Blairgowrie.

Close byBlairgowrie and the Ericht.
  1. Blairgowrie4 miles 7 min by road
  2. The round stone café and ice cream parlour at Stewart Tower Dairy on a sunny day, with farm fields and the Perthshire hills behind.Stewart Tower DairyA dairy farm near Stanley in Perthshire that makes its own gelato-style ice cream, with a café in an old horse engine house and a farm shop.5 miles as the crow flies
  3. Cargill’s Leap, PerthshireCargill’s LeapA narrow gorge on the Ericht where a Covenanter is said to have leapt to escape the dragoons.5 miles 10 min by road
  4. A bowl of orange soup with a cheese scone and a cappuccino on a red-checked tablecloth at The Joinery in Meigle.The Joinery Coffee ShopA village coffee shop in Meigle, on the Perthshire side of the Angus border and about twenty minutes by car from Dundee.9 miles as the crow flies
  5. A beaver dam of peeled sticks holding back a pond at Bamff in early spring, a ruined steading and a timber-clad barn beyond.Bamff WildlandA rewilding estate on the Highland edge, three miles north-west of Alyth, where beavers have lived since 2002.9 miles as the crow flies
  6. Loch of the Lowes Wildlife ReserveLoch of the Lowes Wildlife ReserveA wildlife reserve by Dunkeld, where ospreys nest each summer.9 miles 14 min by road
Directions
An aerial view shows a black timber cabin with a pitched roof set on a deck in an open field, a bath and seating area visible outside.PerthshireThe Cabin at FairygreenSleeps 2 · 5.7 miles
A stone cottage with a green door and three chimneys sits behind a lawn bordered by shrubs and flowerbeds.KinrossieFairygreen CottageSleeps 4 · 8.4 miles
A marble table for two with bentwood chairs in front of a wall of wooden wine racks at Redwood Wines in Dunkeld.RestaurantsRedwood Wines8.7 miles
The Alyth Burn rushing over stones between autumn beeches in the Den o' Alyth.WalksDen o' Alyth9.5 miles
The Alyth Burn running through the town between stone walls.AttractionsAlyth9.6 miles
Turreted sandstone castle with crenellated towers overlooking a wide lawnAttractionsScone Palace9.7 miles
The North Port restaurant in Perth, a three-storey stone building with tall chimneys, sash windows and its name over the ground floor.RestaurantsThe North Port9.8 miles
The great carved cross-slab standing in the hall of the Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum.AttractionsMeigle Pictish Stones10 miles
Picnic tables on a lawn with a canopy, church spire and townhouses behindRestaurantsThe Taybank11 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the hedge, and when each is next free.

An aerial view shows a black timber cabin with a pitched roof set on a deck in an open field, a bath and seating area visible outside.The Cabin at Fairygreen
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Perthshire
  • 4 miles from the Meikleour hedge
Check datesA stone cottage with a green door and three chimneys sits behind a lawn bordered by shrubs and flowerbeds.Fairygreen Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Kinrossie
  • 5 miles from the Meikleour hedge
Check datesAn aerial view of a golf green surrounded by bunkers and trees, rolling countryside stretching to the horizon.Murrayshall
  • To stay
  • In Scone
  • 8 miles from the Meikleour hedge
Check datesA red timber cabin with a steep pitched roof stands on a hillside among pines, a covered deck and chairs to one side.Juniper
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Dunkeld
  • 9 miles from the Meikleour hedge
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in PerthshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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