Churchyard Nature Note with Andrew Tompsett
January 2010
Yew trees – ancient observers of history
Ancient yew trees, spreading, gnarled,
darkand sombre exist in most
churchyards. Theirage can only be
guessed at,measured in thousands of years rather than the hundreds of other trees.
Interestingly, however, our yewsat
St Illogan (about 8 in number plus those
in the Commonwealth War Graves area) are mere babes, probably dating from the building ofthe ‘new’ church around 1848. We candeduce this because they are not the native Common Yew of antiquity but uprightgrowing ‘upstarts’, known as Irish Yew introduced following itsdiscovery in
Fermanagh, N. Irelandin 1778 and widely
planted as amore ‘well behaved’ and
ornamental form. Its many vertical
branches give it the name Taxus baccata 'fastigiata'
Did Illogan ever have ancient native yews, one wonders? Probably not because, if it had, they would probably still be here,
since from earlies ttimes, yews were revered as sacred and in the Middle Ages were protected by law for their importance in supplying the iron-hard woodneed for long-bows. (I will never forget the sound
of those arrows in the original film
of Henry V’s battle at Agincourt.)
Many veteran yew trees being well over 2000 years old pre-date Christianity and are thought to mark Druid gathering
places which thenbecame sites for Christian churches. Retaining the yew
trees near the church may have
assisted in making the transition from pagan worship to the new religion.
However, one small tree in our
churchyardcan claim ancient ancestry.
This is ourMillennium Yew planted in
2000, theinitiative of the Church nationally, to mark the occasion. The source of the
4-inch-long cutting sent to us was a
Welsh tree itself 2000 years old and so living at the time of Christ.
Now, our 9-year-old tree, located beyond the main path to the south-west of the church door,is growing well, as the picture shows. It is, of course, the genuine ancient form of Taxusbaccata and will, God willing, one day dominate the churchyard.
What will our churchyard, our village and land look like when this tree reaches maturity and what might it see in its lifetime? It is a sobering thought.
Just a few facts about yews. The Latin name is from the Greek,a bow, giving further evidence of its importance in
ancient times. Trees are either male or female and only thelatter producer
berries (unpleasantly known as ‘snottygogs’)when wind-pollinated by
male trees. Most parts of the tree are poisonous if grazed by cattle and the berriesshould not be eaten, although
only the seed is toxic so birds swallowing, but not digesting them,are unharmed. In large estatessuch as those ofthe National Trust, clippings from their extensive hedges and topiary are collected andprocessed for the extraction of taxol, an anti-cancer drug. As a final quiz question; what is the oldest known wooden artefact in the world?
Answer: a yew-wood spear found in Essex and 250,000 years old. Amazing!
The Millennium Yew Tree being planted on 1st January 2000.
Pam Tompsett inspects it, nearly ten years later.
