a giant redwood tree that was felled 125 years ago to satisfy a drunken bet is to be brought back to life on the cornish coast the tree  in humboldt, california, became known as the fieldwood stump after being cut down in 1890 at the behest of a wealthy american living in britain for decades since tourists have visited the site, perching on what remains of it for photographs scroll down for video  the fieldwood stump in humboldt, california, was felled in 1890, shortly before this photograph is believed to have been taken cuttings from the felled tree have since been planted in cornwall  cuttings of the tree have been planted at the eden project in cornwall and are now growing in its nursery  but a group of scientists believe they may be able to recreate its former glory after planting cuttings of its wood in the eden project in cornwall at one time the tree, whose stump is 35ft in diameter, towered as high as a 30 storey building it was felled in the late 19th century on the orders of william walford astor who is said to have bet drinking mate he could source a 40 seat dining table from a single cross section of a tree a huge slice indeed arrived at cliveden, his stately home in buckinghamshire, but lord astor forbid peers from retelling the story more than a century after meeting its end the tree will be rejuvenated by scientists in cornwall as part of an adventurous project to clone american plants in britain 'we’re really excited about this, we’re going to plant a hundred trees to the north of the eden site to form a living library 'it feels really odd to hold these saplings and know that they might well be around for another 3000 years from now 'the climate in cornwall is not dissimilar from oregon and northern california where these trees grow naturally so eden offers absolutely perfect conditions for them the tree is thought to have been felled at the request of lord astor after he made a drunken bet insisting that he could source a 40 seat dining table from one slice of cross section  for decades tourists have visited the stump, posing for photographs in front of what remains of its base  the tree base has a diameter of 35ft and, at one time, is thought to have towered as high as a 30 storey building  scientists began last year by collecting cuttings of trees around california the cuttings were replanted in nurseries at the eden project in st austell and have now grown to leg height planting cuttings rather than seeds is more likely to produce an exact clone of the original tree, with the shavings containing exactly the same dna the method of propagation is one championed by david milarch, a former biker gang member who founded the archangel ancient tree archive in a bid to save more of the planet's plants along with his sons mr milarch has concentrated on planting more sequoias and redwoods because of their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas most commonly associated with climate change 'this is the culmination of hopes, dreams, aspirations and a lot of hard work these trees are a great green hope for the future 'near the end of their lives, coast redwoods put out basal sprouts in a circle around their trunk 'this ‘fairy ring’ of clones ensures that even when the parent tree dies it’ll live on in a dozen or so sprouts it will do that indefinitely so these trees will essentially live forever this is an archive, a living library of genetics that can be utilised not just for our generation, but for hundreds of generations into the future to rebuild and replace what we’ve damaged' ten clone saplings have been planted at the eden project in cornwall (file image above) with cuttings taken from the tree  david milarch, co founder of the archangel ancient tree archive, has been cloning redwoods for years  scientists believe cloning trees which absorb carbon dioxide at a higher rate than others will help battle climate change above, some clone saplings planted by scientists at the archange ancient tree archive 
st austell humboldt the fieldwood stump last year california the eden project cornwall astor 1890
the tree in humboldt, california, was felled in 1890 at behest of lord astor  it became known as the fieldwood stump and has since attracted tourists  scientists at the eden project collected cuttings from its wood last year  they have planted 10 clone saplings in nursery in st austell, cornwall  activists say cloning more redwood trees could help battle climate change 