Thomas More and the Mulberry Tree: Genus Morus - Part II

The subtitle of these two posts, "Genus Morus", is borrowed from an archived September, 1954 article from The Tablet [U.K.]  According to the text:

"St. Thomas More['s] . . . favourite mulberry tree, as all will know, stands to this day in the garden of the Convent of Adoration Reparatrice in Chelsea. The nuns give you a card with a picture of St. Thomas More and, stuck on it with glue, a little wooden cross made from a splinter of wood from the tree under whose shade he sat." 

Another 1954 article -- this one from the Catholic Herald [U.K.] -- describes the joy of a recipient of a larger cut of the tree.  It came "by post a small square parcel . . . beautifully packed . . . The last of the wrappings disclosed a flat piece of wood, cross section, I supposed, of some branch . . . for it was a narrow oval about 6 in. long. The grain was beautiful, central whorls of darkly pencilled brown edging inside the bark of pale gold." On the reverse was a small label disclosing that it was wood from Thomas More's mulberry tree.

London Gardens Online has this to say about the saint's former estate in Chelsea:

"The current building is a former convent built by French nuns in the C19th and C20th, the Sisters of the Adoration Reparatrice. Since 1975 it has been used by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster as its Seminary. . . .  The central courtyard garden has a fountain and shrubs. The main garden has lawn surrounded by roses, evergreen and flowering shrubs and trees, and a path leads to a secluded walled garden . . . Beyond this is Thomas More's mulberry tree, and finally an area planted in c.2004 as the St Thomas More Mulberry Walk, with an avenue of young mulberries."

A blog post from Malaysia describes a 2011 visit to the mulberry tree at Allen Hall where, through the kindness of a candidate for the diaconate, the visitors were able to see the mulberry tree and were even given some jam made from its berries.  This was a great gift because initially they were told that visitors must have an appointment in order to see the grounds.

Unfortunately, Allen Hall has taken down from its website a page about St. T.M.'s tree.  An image of the lower part of the tree and commemorative plaque, however, can be viewed online here.

The plaque relates, "When surrounded by his family and friends it is certain he often held those witty and tender conversations which he loved beneath its shelter."

Image:  White mulberry leaves & fruit.  Photograph by Luis Fernandez Garcia.  From Wikimedia Commons. Click for license.