Bevan-Jones - The ancient yew a history of Taxus baccata

THE ANCIENT YEW

This book is dedicated to Lindsey

A History of Taxus baccata

Robert Bevan-Jones

Windgather Press is an imprint of Oxbow Books

Published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by

OXBOW BOOKS

The Old Music Hall, 106108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE

and in the United States by

OXBOW BOOKS

1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083

First Edition Windgather Press and Robert Bevan-Jones 2002

This Edition Windgather Press and Robert Bevan-Jones 2017

Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-078-1

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-91118-812-4 (epub)

Mobi Edition: ISBN 978-1-91118-813-1 (mobi)

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.

For a complete list of Windgather titles, please contact:

Oxbow Books is part of the Casemate group

Cover image: The Hope Bagot yew, Shropshire. Robert Bevan-Jones

Figures

The distribution of the oldest yews in Britain.

The hollow Camp Bank yew in South Staffordshire. The foliage of this tree has been fatal to stock. Its cavity is shown here facing the road. Robert Bevan-Jones.

A radiocarbon dating sample site from a yew at Loughton, Shropshire. Andrew Morton.

A graph plotting girth against age for trees of recorded age. P. M. Tabbush.

This fragment of a great yew at Walton on the Hill is built of twisted fragments of cambium, formerly part of a hollow shell, supported by the internal roots that now form the main strength of the tree. This was once a much bigger yew. Tim Sherman-Chase.

A hollow yew at Farringdon, Hampshire. Toby Hindson.

The Crowhurst yew, Surrey, artificially hollowed out around 1820. Donald Macauley.

At Mamhilad churchyard, among many younger trees, is this massive yew, not far from the door of the church dedicated to St. Iltud. An early saint of pre-Norman date, this is a tree he may well have known. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The author with the Church Preen yew, Shropshire.

The Darley Dale yew, Derbyshire, as shown in J. C. Loudons Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838).

The Darley Dale yew today, a protected prisoner. Eamon Curry.

The Fortingall yew, Perthshire, as depicted by J. G. Strutt in his Sylva Britannica (1822).

The Fortingall yew as shown in Loudon (1938).

The fragmented yew at Buckland in Dover, Kent, as shown in Loudon (1838).

The Buckland yew in Dover in the process of being moved in the 1880s.

The Selborne yew circa 1940.

The Selborne yew root hole excavation plan. Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society.

Portions of the Selborne yew live on as a war memorial altar.

A detail from Strutts 1822 portrait of the Ankerwycke yew.

The Ankerwycke yew today: a tree still recognisable from Strutts 1822 portrait. Robert Bevan-Jones.

One of the Fountains Abbey Seven Sisters from Loudons 1838 illustration.

The Strata Florida female yew. Robert Bevan-Jones.

Detail of the female Strata Florida yew. Elder and brambles have rooted, taking temporary advantage of light following storm damage a few years ago. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The location of the Strata Florida Abbey yews in relation to the abbey. L. Yates.

Canopy of the male yew visited by George Borrow. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The trunk fragment still shows massive storm damage, as described by Borrow. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The old yew at Strata Florida, now gone, from The Gardeners Chronicle, May 1874.

The chambered feature at Strata Florida, in the monks choir by the high altar. Established at the earliest era of building at the site, it was fed by the medicinal spring Dyffryn Tawel. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The pre-Cistercian slab at Strata Florida, comparing an etching from Archaeologia Cambrensis of 1850 with a recent photograph. Robert Bevan-Jones.

This image shows a yew directly over the Well of Our Lady at Womborne, South Staffordshire. This was a popular spot to visit in Victorian England when people would take the waters, the yew affording protection from wind and rain. Robert Bevan-Jones.

A well dressing at Yew Tree Well in Tissington. This photograph was taken in 1960. Colourmaster series.

The shallow well chamber, still filled with water, under the yew at Hope Bagot. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The Totteridge yew, Greater London, meeting place of the court of Cashio Hundred. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The yew at Churchill in Worcestershire, a probable meeting place for the hundredal court. Robert Bevan-Jones.

The Kyre Park parted yew in 1889. A Bertie-Roberts.

One of the ancient yews at Merdon Castle in Hampshire. Toby Hindson

A satellite view of Knowlton Henge in Dorset. The yews, of at least pre-Norman date, can be seen on an earthwork marking a defunct boundary of unknown date. Google Earth/NASA.

Two of the pre-Norman boundary yews at Knowlton Henge. Creative Commons.

One of the famous Borrowdale yews. They are very likely markers of a lost early settlement, probably a small Christian cell. Toby Hindson.

One of the Borrowdale yews. The pale portion of the trunk in the photo is dead. The group of yews here are perfectly located in a place that could represent markers of a lost early church. Toby Hindson.

A postcard dating from around 1900 of the historic hedgerow at Rocky Lane in Perry Barr, West Midlands. Note the lost branches facing the road, a sign of management to facilitate passage past the tree. This tree must be at least 1,000 years old, suggesting this lane and boundary are also of considerable antiquity.

Topiary of the Harlington yew, Greater London. Originally drawn in 1729, it was reprinted in Loudon in 1838.

The Harlington yew, drawn again by Loudon in 1838, having recovered.

Twn and Iago in the Forest of the Yew. Wirt Sykes (1880).

The Ralaghan yew sculpture from Sherlock in Ireland. S. Goddard.

The Romano-British ceremonial yew head from Llanio, reproduced in Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1850.

An Iron Age wooden wheel with yew dowels from Rosscommon, Ireland.

Part of the Iron Age cart or chariot from Doogarymore, Rosscommon, Ireland.

The Trawsfynydd tankard, lined with yew staves. Liverpool Museum.

Plates

Yew berry and foliage at Ruxton-XI-Towns, Shropshire. Robert Bevan-Jones

Church Preen, Shropshire. Hollow and ancient, with an old forged iron band around its waist, it dominates the tranquil churchyard. Robert Bevan-Jones

Tettenhall yew, one of the oldest yew sites in the West Midlands, one of a trio of similar trees that possibly mark an Early Medieval/pre-Norman boundary. Robert Bevan-Jones

The yew at Fortingall, Perthshire, is widely considered to be the oldest recorded tree in Britain. This photo shows only half of the tree the two parts are totally separate now, held inside a stone walled enclosure. The pegs on the ground demark the former intact girth. Robert Bevan-Jones