📌 Meikleour, Perth & Kinross
★★
On sunny evenings, a tall beech hedge casts long shadows across the A93 just south of Meikleour. Record-breakingly long, in fact – for the Guinness Book of Records has verified this as the world’s tallest hedge (30 metres) and the longest in Britain (a third of a mile). The hedge is believed to have been planted in 1745 by the couple who owned the local estate, for whom disaster struck a year later; husband Robert was killed fighting for the losing Jacobite side at Culloden, while his wife – Jean – fled to Edinburgh in the aftermath. In winter the hedge is rather sparse and can be underwhelming, so we recommend a summer trip when foliage reaches its fullest. Cutting back the hedge is reputed to take 6 weeks and is carried out about once a decade; our 2020 visit showed that it had recently been given a rather severe trim, giving it a more tree-like than hedge-like appearance.
🌍 Location
📌 Alongside the A93 1 mi south of Meikleour
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 162387
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.532580,-3.364033
🚌 Infrequent bus stops at hedge
🚗 Layby at south end of hedge (access from northbound carriageway only)
📝 Key info
⌚ Always viewable
🎫 Free
⚠️ The hedge is next to a busy road with fairly narrow verges – care needed.
