Churchyard, St Mary's Church
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Churchyard, St Mary's Church by Maigheach-gheal as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Churchyard, St Mary's Church
Image: © Maigheach-gheal Taken: 8 Jan 2011
The tomb is that of Dorothy Bestland and is dated 1799. Also visible under the yew tree is the shaft of a 14th century stone cross. The yew is not a death tree in that it causes death, although some lore does suggest that death will soon follow if certain yews are irreverently plucked, rather it is regarded as a “gentle guardian of the dead”. The yew has been a common churchyard tree for this reason. In Wales, it was sacrilegious to burn or cut down a yew. The yews association with death made it an unlucky tree that was not to be taken into the home.
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Image Location
Latitude
50.802866
Longitude
-2.070902