Ancient and Veteran Yews in the Diocese of Gloucester

The most significant YEWS in the DIOCESE of GLOUCESTER

© Tim Hills - November 2012

This document provides some of the information gathered from many sources during the last 15 years and held on behalf of the Ancient Yew Group.

The yews featured here are the most significant to be found in the churchyards of the Diocese of Gloucester and each one should be fully protected.

Ancient yews are at least 800 years with no upper age limit. The Yews for the Millennium project took cut-tings from yews considered to be 2000 years old, and there is a growing acceptance that our oldest specimens have reached this age, with some thought to be older still. Veteran yews are at least 500 and some individuals may be up to 1200 years old. Notable yews are likely to be at least 300 years old, though this category may also include younger yews, for example those with a known planting date.

Site name Church name Tree ClassificationAbenhall St Michael 1 veteran

Adelstrop St Mary Magdalene 1 veteran

Awre St Andrew 1 ancient

Broadwell St Paul 1 ancient

Bulley St Michael 1 veteran

Coln Rogers St Andrew 1 veteran

Forthampton St Mary the Virgin 1 ancient1 notable

Hawling St Edward 1 veteran

Hewelsfield St Mary Magdalene 1 veteran

Huntley St John the Baptist 1 ancient

Kemble All Saints 1 veteran

Minsterworth St Peter 1 veteran1 notable

Pauntley St John the Evangelist 1 ancient

Saintbury St Nicholas 1 veteran

Staunton St James 1 ancient

Staunton (Forest of Dean) All Saints 1 veteran

Todenham St Thomas à Becket 1 veteran

ABENHALL St Michael SO67131741

Abenhall has also been known as Abbenhall and Abinghall.

1876: Two yews at Abbenhall were described as ‘especially venerable……....dating probably from the time of Edward I (1239-1307)’.1

1936: Mee described Abinghall as a lonely place with a 13th century church and ‘two magnificent old yews that have kept it company most of the time’. 2

2003: At some time between 1936 and 2003 one of the pair was destroyed. The surviving tree is this male growing south west of the church. Examination indicates that it has been con-siderably larger than its present girth of 14' 9'' (450cm) at 1'.

Geoff Garlick 2005

2012: A veteran yew only recently discovered by Lin Carter. It is male with two trunks joined close to the ground and grows west of the church. Girth - 20' 9'' close to the ground.

ADELSTROP St Mary Magdalene SP24302690

Geoff Garlick 2005

Girth records:1796: 22' 5'' at 4' (Phillips)3

1986: 22' 9'' at 4' (Meredith)1998: 19' 11'' at the base: 23' 6'' at 3': 20' 9'' at 4' 6'' (Hills) 2008: 20' 2'' at the base : 23' 6'' at 3' (Hills)In 1986 several samples were taken from a long dead section of the outer part of the tree on its south side. Meredith found over 50 rings in one sam-ple of less than an inch and more than 30 in another sample of about half an inch; in a further sample the rings were too close to be counted by eye.

AWRE St Andrew SO70880805

St Andrew’s church dates from the early 13th century, so the ancient yew’s presence suggests this was a site of worship long before the present church was built.In 1796, Phillips recorded that ‘a hollow yew-tree is now standing in Awre churchyard whose circumference four feet from the ground, is twenty-two feet five inches and its diametre upwards of seven feet’. 3

In 1913 Arthur O.Cooke wrote: ‘For those who love old trees the greatest interest of the church may lie out-side; for in the graveyard on the northern side is a most ancient yew. The trunk is quite hollow, with an open-ing through which a full-grown man may pass’. 4 More of the trunk has been lost since this time, for the gap on one side of the tree is now 4'.

2008: The male yew, growing NE of the church, has an unusual and distinctive grey bark. Its two sections at ground level join at a height of 5'/6', above which is a fine spread of branches. Below this spreading tree are buried those ‘fishermen who drowned in the river Severn in the days of the old Severn Trow sailing ships’. 5

Cooke also noted a second yew growing by the churchyard gate, ‘far from contemptible in size: a stripling not ill fitted to take up the burden of its ancient neighbour, and to carry down to a remote posterity traditions of the yews at Awre’. This ‘stripling’ grows south of the church and girths about 11', suggesting an age of 200/300 years. There is no reason however why it should lose its ‘ancient neighbour’ for many more centuries.

The church is Norman, though it is thought to be the site of an earlier place of worship. In 1993 Revd R.N.Mann responded to a questionnaire from the Conservation Foundation. He noted that a Saxon pagan cemetery had been identified to the north of the church, also that the Broad Well from which the village derives its name is a spring about 100m south of the tree, but which was probably originally closer.

1914: JC Cox described the female yew which grows in the south of the churchyard as ‘ancient, wide spreading and vigorous’. 7

1938: Mee described ‘….a giant yew which has kept this spot green for seven or eight centuries. Its trunk is about 8 yards round’.2

On many occasions Mee, or one of his team of writers, has specu-lated on the age of significant churchyard yews. In this instance he considered the tree to be coeval with the church building. While this is a possibility, everything about the yew suggests it might be older still.

1999: A female yew where the removal of branches has led to hollow spaces in which can be seen internal roots feeding on de-caying heartwood. There are also small internal stems. The tree swells considerably above the height of 1'. At 7'/9' its bole ‘flows’ into a fluted main branch.

Girth records:1980: 26' 4'' at 3' (Meredith)1999: 22' 8'' at 1' swelling to 26' 7'' at 3' (Hills)

BROADWELL St Paul SP20052769

Geoff Garlick Geoff Garlick

Here is a classic example of an ancient yew’s ability to recover from trauma. In 1938 it was ‘a magnificent yew with a trunk 6 yards round, reaching the timber porch with its great arms’.2

But in 1969 disaster struck when the yew was ‘split down the middle’. These newspaper extracts are taken from between Oct 1969 and Dec 1971.

‘The famous 900 year old yew tree, which has stood in the secluded churchyard at Bulley, near Gloucester, since the church was built in Norman times, has finally succumbed to old age. For one evening last week there was a rending crack and the huge old tree suddenly split down the middle, shedding a number of its branches on to the paths and graves. Fortunately, the section which over-hangs the main door and roof of St Michael’s church remained upright.”“Apparently, the falling branches did not even damage any of the headstones. It was a very fa-mous tree in these parts. I am told by a local for-ester that ‘it is probably 900 years old and I think it may have been planted outside the church door when the church was built’.’

1999: Although it now appears lop-sided, this female tree, growing south east of the church, has recovered and is in fine health. From the trunk at a height of 8'/9', four large branches stretch towards the porch for a distance of about 7/8 yards. Sudden exposure to the light of a large part of its trunk has resulted in attractive bark colouring.

Girth records: 1938: 18' round (Mee)3

1986: 17' 6'' at 3' (Meredith) 1998: 17' 3'' at 1': 17' 2'' at 3': 17' 11'' at 4' (just below limbs) Hills 2008: 17' 6'' at 1': 17' 6'' at 3': 18' 6'' at 4' (Hills)

BULLEY St Michael SO76171975

COLN ROGERS St Andrew SP08740968

1999: An ivy filled male yew grows SW of the church. From its solid looking trunk, branches carry the tree upwards rather than outwards.

Girth - exaggerated by ivy 18' 6" at 1' 19' 10" at 3' 19' 10" at 5'.

photos Geoff Garlick

FORTHAMPTON St Mary the Virgin SO85873256

Were it not for historical records this might easily be mistaken for a younger yew. What re-mains today is a well developed fragment of the original tree, with a girth of about 8'. Before gales and storms damaged the tree its recorded girth in 1820 was 27'.6 Its demise is well docu-mented, in one account it was ‘blown down in 1839’ and in another ‘storm damaged in 1860’.6

In 1938 Mee recognised it as the ‘veteran blown down a century ago………It is still alive, a shoot from the stump having become a fair sized tree’.2

Also in the churchyard ENE of the church is a notable yew with a girth of about 15', while in 1840 three yews were planted by Joseph Yorke. One growing close to the tower was cut down in 1973, but the re-maining two have survived.

In 1936 Mee described ‘a gigantic yew’.2 It is in fact a relatively small girthed female tree which grows in the NW corner of the churchyard, above a vertical drop into what used to be the old dairy. 2003: At the time of the visit the area around the base of the tree was used as a dumping ground for heavy

blocks of stone. A hole on the NW side of the tree reveals large hollow spaces, while on the SE side there is a suggestion that section A might have once been a central internal stem. If this is the case the tree would have been considerably larger in girth centuries ago. The tree was in vigorous good health. Girth: 17' 7'' at 1': 17' 11'' at 2': 18' 3'' at 3'

A younger female yew, with branches dipping to the ground, grows NE of the church.

Photos Geoff Garlick 2005

HAWLING St Edward SP06292294

A

This is the most westerly parish in Gloucestershire. Parts of the church date back to Saxon times. Meredith argues that the name Hewelsfield is derived from the yew tree, citing ‘ewe’ as an old spelling of yew.6

The earliest record of this ancient yew so far discovered dates from 1914, in which Cox understates its powerful presence, describing it simply as ‘...a fine old yew tree’.7

1998: The male yew grows on the south side of the church and dis-plays many fine features: a clean

trunk, a large girth retained for a considerable height and a cavernous hollow which closes over at 15/18'. Most of its growth is carried on 3 large upright branches, two of which rise side by side and carry the tree to a greater height than is usual in churchyard yews. Many of its branches have been allowed to dip towards the ground.

Girth recorded at 3' illustrates the difficulty of consistent measurement of yews growing on sloping ground. 1986: 21' 6'' at 3' and 20' 7'' at 4' Meredith1998: 20'11" at 3' and 20' 3'' at 5' Hills

Photos Geoff Garlick 2005

HEWELSFIELD St Mary Magdalene SO56750211

HUNTLEY St John the Baptist SO71331960

1803: ‘In the church-yard is growing a yew–tree of 20 feet in girth’.8

1938: ‘It has an old yew which may be 700 years old; it is about 24 feet round its trunk’.2

1991: The following letter from the then church warden Mr.R.Hawking dated 23 Feb 1991 demonstrates that the fate of our most ancient trees is determined at a local level and is heavily reliant on goodwill. ‘I would like to draw your attention to the (yew) which is obviously very ancient and nearing the end of its life. The church was founded in the 13th century and possibly the tree is even older. It was recorded as having a girth of 20 feet in 1800 and is now completely hollow and reduced to three sections, although these are still growing vigorously. It is held together with a cable, and is probably still standing only because it is very close to the church and sheltered by it. It is little known because it is round the back of the church and out of view.I am churchwarden and look after the tree by seeing that the top growth is cut back every five years to reduce the strain on the trunk due to wind or weight of snow, but am concerned that this will be neglected if I am no longer around. I would like to see the historic tree ‘adopted’ by some organisation who would undertake to inspect it every few years and recommend any works necessary to the PCC’.

Visits in 1998, 2001, 2008, 2011The female yew grows NW of the church and is squeezed into a small space between the church, a fuel stor-age tank and a mature Giant Redwood. For hundreds of years it has been traditional to plant a yew SW of a building, to provide that building with some protection from the prevailing winds. In this instance, however, it is suggested that the tree’s long life is in part due to the protection provided by the church! This is undoubt-edly a very long lived tree, much older than the 700 years attributed by Mee. In 1998 it was in fine health, its crown laden with dense foliage. By 2001 this had turned brown and the tree appeared to be dying. We need to be alert to the fact that this is not unusual, and ensure that ancient speci-mens are not felled simply because for a brief time they are ‘looking the worse for wear’. By 2008 the tree was again covered in a rich dense foliage, and the same was noted in 2011.This remarkable yew consists of six pieces of trunk, some no thicker than a few inches, which join above head height, and are held together by a metal bar at about 12 feet. Girth 1991: 20' 5'' at 3' and 20' 8'' at 4'1998: 21' 10'' at 1', 21' 5'' at 3' and 23' 5'' at 5'

1894: ‘The yew on the west side of the tower is probably older than the fabric—the trunk measures 18ft 6ins round at a height of 6 feet from the ground. It is hollow for some 9ft or 10ft high, and in the centre is the dis-tinct stem of a smaller tree which has become merged into the main trunk. Local tradition says that the great yew tree by the tower dates from Anglo-Saxon times’.9

1938: ‘The churchyard has a natural curiosity in the shape of a giant yew tree with a hollow trunk and the trunk of another inside it. The tree is 20ft round, though this includes the beams clamped round with iron bands. We can see the inner trunk through a little hole. About a foot thick it appears to rise straight from the ground, and may be quite a separate yew. Old yew must have been young when the tower was built 700 years ago’. 2

In the 1950s half of the trunk was removed, allowing a clear view of the internal root or internal stem (A). This grows in what was the centre of the tree, beginning its life growing downwards from one of the branches through the tree’s decaying and hollowing centre until it roots in the ground. This phenomenon has only been recently understood. 1998: Being so close to the church, the tree has been encouraged to grow upwards rather than outwards; even so it is not especially tall. Ivy had been recently removed and the presence of cyclamen beneath the tree dem-onstrates that brambles, nettles and elder are not the only plants capable of withstanding the yew’s deep shade. This tree provides evidence that a yew can grow for centuries within a few metres of a building with-out causing damage to its foundations. Girth in 1998: 15' 8" at 3' and 15' 9" at 5'. Girth of internal stem 4' 1" at the ground and 3' 4" at 5'.Photos taken in 2011.

KEMBLE All Saints ST98929698

A

A

A

The river Severn overflows into this churchyard whenever high tides coincide with adverse weather condi-tions. So Mee’s 1938 description is apt, and the Severn must on many occasions have ‘washed the feet of the 3 fine yews in the churchyard, little yew 11', middle-sized 17' and big yew 20' round’.2

‘Big yew’ is this grand hollow female growing SE of the church. It bulges considerably above 2' and releases its wayward, spreading branches from a height of 8/10'. A girth of 17' (518) at 1' understates the powerful pres-ence of this tree.

‘Middle-sized yew’ is male, with an elongated trunk, a mix of live (A) and dead (B) wood, with a girth of 15' 3" at the ground and 17' 3" at 5'.

‘Little yew’, girthing 13' 2" at 5', is a fine fluted male with colourful bark. It grows NW of the church at the churchyard entrance.

MINSTERWORTH St Peter SO77311699

A

B

Pauntley is the home of Dick Whittington, the ‘starting-point of his journey to immortality’. The church has a fine Norman door and an unusually sited porch on the north side, while Whittington’s arms can be seen in the west window of the tower. The earliest record of the yew is contained in one of 5 views of Pauntley Church 10 taken in 1881, in which the male yew is seen spreading outwards from close to the ground, while a single branch pushes upwards through the low growth.

1999: Its appearance was little changed. I found half of the trunk’s surface area obscured by ivy and twiggy growth, as well as evidence of fire/smoke damage. By the time of Geoff Garlick’s visit in 2006 the ivy had been removed.

PAUNTLEY St John the Evangelist. SO74872896

SAINTBURY St Nicholas SP11713944

1921: ‘The churchyard contains the trunk of a colossal yew, possibly of pre-conquest date’. 11

1999: The male yew grows south of the church. It measured 15'1" at 1' around its live section and a piece of stump. These are the remaining fragments of the once colossal yew. Its trunk divides at 8/10' into many tall ris-ing branches. Internal growth could be seen in the main branch.

1999 2006

Three villages lie just within the Gloucestershire county boundary, two called Staunton and one Stanton. It is perhaps not surprising that this has caused confusion in the past. An ancient yew with a girth of 25 feet at 5ft. was recorded in 1874 at Stanton, Worcestershire.12 This was almost certainly referring to this massive frag-ment found at Staunton, Gloucestershire.

The male yew grows NW of the church tower and was described in 1924 as ‘an old yew tree with hollow stem, said to be the largest in the county. Its girth is 28 ft. 9 in’.13

1938: Mee recognised the true immensity of this tree, recording ‘ ….a colossal yew 25 feet round and breaking up with age’.2

Vaughan Cornish (1940s) wrote to parishes seeking information about their churchyard yews. Hayes replied with the following description: ‘Yew with girth of 33', limbs extending 30' on north and 20' on south side. New bark grows over the old trunk. Limbs well covered with foliage’.14

1998: This is an exceptional fragment of a huge old tree. It might eventually break into two fragment trees. For the moment its two distinct sections, gradually leaning outwards, are held together with thick wire.

STAUNTON St James SO78192921

STAUNTON (Forest of Dean) SO55071261

1938: ‘….a veteran 20 feet round’.2

2003: This hollow female grows on a small mound east of the church. It has in the past been overrun by ivy and several large dead stems still clung to the north side of the tree, while those on the south side were stillgrowing.It is thin skinned with one gap into its hollow, 5' high and 1' wide. It was just possible to stand upright inside the space. Several internal stems push through the skin within the first few feet.It appears truncated with split branches showing at the top of the tree. Its main rising growth is above the gap where remnants of the original trunk can be seen.Newer growth rises all around the remainder of the tree. Girth: 17' 4'' at the ground.

TODENHAM St Thomas � Becket SP24323631

This is an example of a yew whose girth has been exaggerated because of the tra-dition of measuring all trees at 5ft. It grows SW of the church tower and was recognised as ‘a well grown ancient yew’ in 1914. At that time its recorded girth was 20' 6''. In 1999 I took several measurements which more accurately record the shape of this tree:- 15' at the ground, 15' 9" at 2', and bulging outwards to 21' 5" just be-low 4'. It is a fine male tree, with branches allowed to sweep down to the ground among the tombstones. A substantial area of growth stretches towards the road, and while this is at the moment well connected to the tree, it could mark the point where it eventually begins to split. In a tree already carrying the weight of a fine healthy foliage, it was encouraging to see that ivy had been removed. These are specimen trees and should be treated as if in an arboretum.

Some of the Notable Yews in the Diocese of Gloucester

2010: The church is accessed along the private drive of an estate owned by the Huntley family. The yew, with a girth of 13' 3'' at 6'', grows south of the church. In spite of its small girth it has many characteristics of a very old tree. The ground plan shows the probable line of the original tree. Remnants of dead `white` sap-wood can be seen, and above head height are internal stems and large quantities of crumbling red heartwood.

BOXWELL St Mary ST81229269

COLD ASTON (Aston Blank) St Andrew SP12801990

1914: ‘A well grown ancient yew, with a girth of 15ft 6in.'.7

In 1938 Mee acknowledged it as a ‘grand old yew” which has stood for centuries ‘its trunk 16 feet round’.2 The church considers the tree to be at least 600 years old. 2003: The tall female yew grows SSW of the church All low growth has been removed resulting in a clean, visible trunk. This possibly explains why the girth measurements recorded in 2003 are lower than those in 1914. 14' 6'' at 1', 14' 6'' at 3', and 14' 10'' at 5'.

Photos Geoff Garlick

BROMSBERROW St Mary the Virgin SO7433361955: A girth of 14' 6'' at 3' was recorded. Notes from an unknown source say that branches were lost because of ice in 1940, and more in the gales of 1959, 1974 and 1976. One side of the tree is lost, exposingits innards on the outside. Girth has di-minished to 13' 5'' at 2' in 2011.

1999: A male yew with a girth of 13' 9'' at 4' in 1981 and 14' at 2' 6". The photo shows both the living part of the tree (A) and the dead sapwood (B). Dead sapwood can remain in situ for centuries, and can provide a scaffold for the living wood to gradually creep around the tree. While there might eventually be a complete circle of living wood, it is also pos-sible that the dead wood will decay first, leaving a horse shoe shaped hol-low tree.

A

B

DEERHURST St Mary SO87002990

1897: Birmimgham and Warwickshire Archaeological society described: “two ancient yew trees which seem to embrace the entrance are curious.”2006: The two male yews grow close to and either side of the north door. They feature in Thomas Paken-ham's Meetings with remarkable trees. At 4' their girths were 6' 5'' and 6' 7''.

Stow-on-the-Wold St Edward

“There is nothing like them anywhere we know”2

Painswick is perhaps the best known and most visited yew site in Britain. Its yews are not, however, of vast old age, indeed the oldest are 18th century, while the majority were planted in the 19th century. The plant-ing date of the earliest trees was either 1714 or 1774, depending on which account is read. Records also dis-pute the number of yews in the churchyard, with 99 the most frequently quoted. A traditional tale is that at-tempts to plant the hundredth yew always ends in failure.

Every September a ‘clypping’ ceremony takes place. Its name comes from the Saxon word ‘ycleping’, which means embracing. People of the village hold hands and encircle the church in a service of dedication.

Clipping to maintain these shapes slows down the rate of girth increase. A sample of 15 of the older yews showed an average girth of only 3' 9''. Under normal, unclipped, growing conditions this figure would be closer to 8'.

PAINSWICK St Mary SO86650963

We also have records of Notable yews at Ampney Crucis: Avening: Compton Abdale: Down Ampney: Dymock: Elmstone Great Witcombe: Hardwicke: Leonard Stanley: Longney: Lower Dowdeswell: Matson: Tidenham: Upton St Leonards. More details of these can be found in the website Gazetteer.

A full survey of Gloucestershire’s churchyards would add many more yews to this list.

2002: Six yews grow either side of the path leading to the church. The first two grow close by the gate, the remaining four form a neat square close to the church porch. All show differ-ent growth characteristics.Girths range from 8ft to 14ft 5ins.

Photo - Peter Norton 2011

SAPPERTON St Kenelm SO94730340

SEVENHAMPTON St Andrew SP03252172

1938: ‘A grand old yew’.2

2003: The male tree grows on sloping ground SW of the church, its thick buttress like features showing for 2' beneath an explosion of twiggy growth. Above this rise many upright branches, all relatively recent. Much good work clearing the ground around the yew had been done since my previous visit.One space on its SW face is hollowing and red heartwood is visible inside the decaying old stem.Girth is 15' 11'' at 1'.

photo - Geoff Garlick 2005

Birmimgham and Warwickshire Archaeological society 1897 noticed the ‘two ancient yew trees which seem to embrace the entrance’.

2006: The two male yews grow close to and either side of the north door. They feature in Thomas Pakenham's Meetings with remarkable trees. At 4' their girths were 6' 5'' and 6' 7''.

STOW-on-the-WOLD St Edward SP19082581

1 Morris & Co.Commercial Directory & Gazetteer 18762 The King’s England - Arthur Mee 1938 edition3 The Monthly Magazine 1796 - unverified 4 The Forest of Dean Arthur O’Cooke 5 www.fweb.org.uk/dean/towns/awre.htm 6 The Sacred Yew Chetan and Brueton 19947 Gloucestershire 5th Edition J.C.Cox 1914 8 T he History of the County of Gloucester:Compressed and brought down to the year 1803 Vol II by Revd

Thomas Rudge, B.D. rector of St Michael, in Gloucester 9 The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History magazine 10 Held by Gloucester County archives11 Ancient Cotswold Churches by Alric Daubeny 12 The Yew Trees of Great Britain and Ireland John Lowe 1896 13 History of the County of Worcester 1924 vol 4 pp197-202 (British History On-line)14 The Churchyard Yew and Immortality Vaughan Cornish 1946

© Tim Hills - November 2012