Ancient Yew Trees in the United Kingdom

[Pauline]

A friend on Facebook told me that a friend of hers, an artist from Fairfield Iowa, was spending July under a Yew tree in the Painswick churchyard, drawing. I was not sure what that meant, but today we went to the churchyard and found him.

Greg Thatcher has been drawing and painting the Yew trees in the Painswick churchyard since 1991. He is working on a drawing now that he started last year (he spent 130 hours on this last year) and is finishing now (working 7+ hours per day for all of July). He funded this year's project through KickStarter.

>> Follow his progress on his Facebook page - Spirit of the Yew and see his drawings on his website Greg Thatcher Gallery.

This means that last summer we were walking by him frequently and not realizing it was the same person there each day drawing. Also this summer. To give us some credit, the churchyard is big and there is always something going on and people here and there. But I too am fascinated by these trees (perhaps not to the extent that Greg is).

Greg and his wife Jan told us how special Yew trees are. The Painswick trees are hundreds of years old, from medieval times, but there are two very old Yew trees in the UK. One of the oldest trees in Europe, thought to be over 5,000 years old, is the Fortingall Yew, in the churchyard of Fortingall, Perthshire (Scotland). But recently a possibly even older Yew tree has been found in Wales, the Defynnog Yew, near Sennybridge, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Read more on the article below.

The Telegraph (UK) - The ancient, sacred, regenerative, death-defying yew tree, by Clive Aslet 09 Jul 2014
A yew tree in the corner of a Welsh churchyard is said to be 5,000 years old. Our Neolithic ancestors were as fascinated by it as we are.

Photo of Greg today (Sunday July 20) with his drawing.

 

[Pauline]

There is another great Yew tree in the area - the Yew hedge surrounding the Bathurst Estate house in Cirencester. It is 300 years old, 450 feet long and 33 feet wide. This article is about trimming the hedge.

Western Daily Press - A tall order to keep lifesaving hedge in trim, August 06, 2014

From the article: "The job takes two men – and a host of estate staff – ten full days on top of a cherry picker to cut back the 300 year-old giant."

Photo of the Yew hedge on the Bathurst Estate, Cirencester.

 

[Pauline]

News about another ancient yew tree, the Ashbrittle Yew in Ashbrittle, Somerset, 4,000 years old. The Defynnog Yew, near Sennybridge, in the Brecon Beacons National Park is supposed to be 5,000 years old, which makes it older.

Telegraph - Church fears 4,000-year-old tree is dying, April 26 2015
Ashbrittle Yew said to be 'Britain's oldest living thing'

From the article: "A 4,000-year-old tree thought to be Britain's oldest living thing may be on its last legs, according to its custodian. The stunning Ashbrittle Yew, which stands in the Church of St John the Baptist’s churchyard in Ashbrittle, Somerset, has a girth of 38ft and a vast canopy that arches over the path."

The tree is in Somerset, west of Taunton. We will drop in to see it the next time we are driving down the M5 to Dorset or Devon. You can't see it on Google Maps Street View. Our yew trees in the Painswick churchyard are hundreds of years old.