Trunk of the old Yew

Image: © Jonathan Kington Taken: 10 Apr 2011

Thought to be over 1,000 years old, this old Yew in the churchyard of St Mary's is definitely looking its age. The trunk hardly looks strong enough to support it and, indeed, there are two wooden props holding it up on the other side. The Common, or English, Yew (Taxus baccata) is an ancient conifer species that has survived since before the Ice Age and as such has been revered and used by humankind throughout the ages. Because of its ability to survive to great ages and its unique way of growing new trunks from within the original root bole, it has now been estimated that some English Yews are as much as 4,000 years old. Pollen counts taken from peat bogs of Europe show that the Yew trees grew in greater abundance at the time of the Ice Age than they do now. As the glaciers receded northwards, the great forests of Europe contained up to 80% of Yew trees, since then have been in continuous decline. Even though the Yew is said to symbolise longevity, death and rebirth its association with churchyards could that the foliage and berries are poisonous to domesticated stock; therefore in Medieval England the churchyards were the few places that would be fenced thus protecting the trees from the need to be destroyed by farmers.

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