Janis Fry Art : Ancient Yew Tree Tours |
Ancient Yew Tree Tours Tree Tourism. Wales is the country with the largest collection of ancient yew trees on earth | |||
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Wales is the country with the largest collection of ancient yews on earth. This tour aims to introduce you to some of the best examples of these extraordinary trees. These yews occur in a relatively small area around Brecon/Usk, probably due to the culture of revering and planting yews which dates back to the Silures, the Celtic yew tribe who inhabited this area at one time and fought the Romans.
The tour takes in the 5,000 year old yew at Defynnog, probably the oldest tree in Britain, as well as the 4,000 year old yew at Bettws Newydd. Your tour guide is Yew Historian, Janis Fry who will introduce you to 12 ancient yews on the 2 day tour or 6 ancient yews on the 1 day tour. The 12 yews we will visit are at Defynnog, Penpont, Llanspiddyd, Brecon Cathedral, Cantref, Llanfeugan, Llanbedr Ystradwy, Llanelly, Llanwenarth, Llanarth, Llangattock Juxta Usk, and Bettws Newydd. All of these places are church sites. We will meet the mini bus, by Brecon Tourist Information Centre, Cattle Market Car Park, Market Street, Brecon LD3 9DA, where the day begins with coffee or tea and a talk by Janis Fry at 10.00 am. The tour costs £55 a day per person for 8 - 12 people, £100 each a day for 2 people, £70 each a day for 3 or 4 and £60 each for 5 - 8. We will stop for lunch at a cafe on route. You will need stout shoes and possibly a waterproof jacket, as some places may be muddy. Dates can be tailored to suit you. You tell us when you want to go. The whole tour takes 2 days but you can opt for just one day. Day 1 Defynnog to Llanfeugan. Day 2 Llanbedr Ystradwy to Bettws Newydd. Please contact Heather Hornung on 07950 004588 or email ancientyewtours@gmail.com Visit Janis' facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com ![]() | ||
Numbers of Ancient Yews in Britain
In the rest of Britain we have recorded 115 yews aged at over 2,000 years. This total is made up of 79 yews aged at 2,000 years plus, 32 at 3,000 years plus, 3 at 4,000 years plus and 1 at 5,000 years plus. In addition to ancient yews, Wales has a larger number of 1,000 years plus yews. A special feature are circles of these old yews, typically made up of 7 or 8 trees. WALES Churchyard yews aged 5,000 years plus (3 yews) Defynnog, Brecon Discoed, Powys Llangernwy, Clwyd Churchyard yews aged 4,000 years (1 yew) Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire Churchyard yews aged 3,000 years (11 yews) Alltmawr, near Builth Wells, Powys Llanafan Fawr, Powys Llanbedr Ystrad Yw, Breconshire Llandeiniolen, Gwynedd Llandre, Cerdigion Llanfaredd , near Builth Wells, Powys Llanfeugan, Breconshire (2) Llangynyw, Powys Llanymawddwy, Gwynedd Llantrithyd, Glamorgan Wales. Churchyard yews aged 2,000 years (30 yews) Aberedw Cyffylliog, Denbighshire Discoed, Powys Gwytheryn, Conwy (2 yews) Llanbedr Ystradyw, Breconshire Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, Clwyd (2 yews) Llanarth, Gwent Llanelly, Monmouthshire Llandrillo, Denbighshire Llanddewi Rhydderch Llandeiniolen, Gwynedd Llanfeugan, Breconshire Llanfihangel Nant Melan, Powys Llangathen, Carmarthenshire Llangattock Juxta Usk, Monmouthshire Llanilid, Glamorgan Llanspiddyd, Powys Llanwenarth Maesmynis, Powys Mamhilad, Gwent Meidrim, Carmarthenshire Mynydd Islwyn, Gwent Nantmel, Powys Pennant Melangell, Powys (2 yews) Penpont, Powys Rhulen, Near Builth, Powys Ystradgynlais, Powys Non Churchyard Yews aged 2,000 years plus (14 yews) Abergwesyn, Builth Wells (2 yews) Caer Alyn, Llay, near Wrexham, Clwyd. Edge of field Dolfor, Newtown, Powys. (2 yews on hillside) Dolforwyn Castle, Yew tree cottage, Welshpool, Powys. Next to well Ffynon Bedr, Conwy Pantllidw, Machynlleth, Powys Pantybeudy, Llangeithio, Ceredigion Rhyd-y-Glafes, near Llandrillo Ty Illtyd, Llanhamlach, near Brecon, Powys. (3 yews on hillside) Yew tree Farm, Discoed, Offas Dyke, Powys/Herefordshire border IN THE REST OF BRITAIN, Churchyard Yews aged 5,000 years plus (1 yew) Fortingall, Scotland Churchyard Yews aged 4,000 years plus (3 yews) Crowhurst, Surrey Linton, Herefordshire Tisbury, Wiltshire Churchyard Yews aged 3,000 years plus (16 yews) All Hallows, Dorset Ashbrittle, Somerset Clun, Shropshire Claverley, Shropshire Coldwaltham, Sussex Farringdon, Hampshire, Kenn, Devon Kennington, Kent Long Sutton, Hampshire Lytchett Matravers, Dorset Payhembury, Devon Peterchurch, Herefordshire Stanstead, Kent Woodcott, Hampshire Woolland, Dorset Yazor, Herefordshire Non churchyard Yews, aged 3,000 years plus (16 yews) All Hallows, Dorset. One 30 ft. yew outside churchyard. Boulsbury Farm, near Martin’s Wood, Hampshire Bulbarrow, Dorset Bodcott Farm, near Moccas Park, Herefordshire Borrowdale, Lake District. National Trust Bulbarrow Hill, Woolland, Dorset. On ancient barrow Druids Grove, Surrey Garnons Wood, nr. Mansell Gamage, Herefordshire Keffold’s Farm, Haslemere, Sussex. Possible monastery site Kentchurch, Herefordshire. Private estate. 3 yews Knowlton Circles, Dorset. Henge monument Norbury, Shropshire Old Colwall, Herefordshire Whitbury Hillfort, Dorset Churchyard Yews aged 2,000 years plus (45 yews) Acton Scott, Shropshire Aldworth, Berkshire Ankerwycke, near Runnymede, Buckinghamshire Astbury, Cheshire Awre, Gloucestershire Boarhunt, Hampshire Buckland in Dover, Kent Buxted, Sussex Challock, Kent Cradley, Worcestershire Crowhurst, Sussex Darley Dale, Derbyshire Dunster, Somerset Eastling, Kent Elworthy, Somerset Hambledon, Surrey Harrietsham, Kent Hope Bagot, Shropshire Huntley, Gloucestershire Kemble, Gloucestershire Leeds, Kent Loose, Kent Loughton, Shropshire Mamhead, Devon Martindale, Cumbria Mid Lavant, Sussex Molash, Kent Old Enton, Surrey Overton on Dee, Shropshire Prior’s Dean, Hampshire Ulcombe, Kent Uppington, Shropshire West Tisted, Hampshire Wilmington, Sussex Rycote Manor, Oxfordshire Sidbury, Shropshire South Hayling, Hampshire Staunton, Worcestershire Stedham, Sussex Stockbury, Kent Tandridge, Surrey Tangley, Hampshire Tettenhall, West Midlands Totteridge, Hertfordshire Zeal Monachorum, Devon Non Churchyard Yews aged 2,000 years plus (34 yews) Askerswell, Dorset Barlavington Farm, Sussex Bernera, Lismore, Argyl Bruce’s Yew, Loch Lomond Coldred, Kent. On burial mound opposite church Churchill, Worcester, Kidderminster area. Old Church site Compton Dando, Wandsdyke, Somerset. On dyke Craswall, Herefordshire Ducks Nest Longbarrow, Dorset. Private land Eardisley, Herefordshire Fountains Abbey, Ripon, Yorkshire. National Trust Great Frazer Yew, above Loch Ness Great Yews, Odstock, Wiltshire. Yew grove Hanchurch, Stafforshire. Near a house called ‘The Yew Trees’ Holywell, Eardisley, Herefordshire. SSSI Jays Copse, Haslemere. Surrey. Boundary marker tree King Yew, Eastwood, Tiddenham Chase, Gloucestershire Kingley Vale Kyre Park, Worcestershire Lydney Park, Gloucestershire Lorton, Kendal, Cumbria. Wordsworth’s Tree. By stream in field Marston Bigot, Somerset. Private land Merdon Castle, Winchester, Hampshire Middleton Scriven, Shropshire. (2 yews in field opposite church) Newlands Corner, Surrey Old Enton, near Godalming, Surrey. Possible hillfort Old Church, Ullswater, Cumbria. Hotel grounds Rye Hill, near Knowlton Circles, Dorset. On farmland Snoddington Manor Farm, Tidworth, Hampshire Temple Farm, Longleat, Wiltshire Yew tree knob, Wintershall private estate, Bramley, Guildford, Surrey White house Copse, Cranbourne, Dorset Yew Tree Field, Damerham, Dorset ![]() BRITAIN’S LOST YEWS Janis Fry researched with Allen Meredith This list, taken from many sources, is not a comprehensive one but an estimate, of the number of yews lost in Britain, mainly since the 2nd World War. There were also losses in Victorian times with the loss of the knowledge of sacred side of the yew trees. There is no way of knowing the true figure as records were not made and collected at the time. The list may be just the tip of the iceberg as it is not always obvious when a yew has disappeared for ever. For instance I am certain there must have been a much earlier, older yew at Nevern in Pembrokeshire but no old stump or evidence can be found. Between the Victorian era and the 2nd Wold War, thousands of yews, of which just a few examples are included here have gone and since then somewhere in the region of 500 have been destroyed. This list has been researched from old records and books such as Arthur Mee’s ‘King’s England’ (1930’s), Vaughan Cornish ‘The Churchyard Yew and Immortality’ (1946), E.W. Swanton ‘The Yew trees of England’ (1958) and old illustrations and engravings of churches with old yews, where the yews are no longer there. This list is mainly about churchyards known to have lost yews. Many of those places would typically have lost several yews like Myddfai in Carmarthenshire where only 1 yew remains on the north side, out of a circle of at least 5 or 6 originally there..... Read the full document ![]() In addition to this list some 65 more lost yew sites are described in an article by Tim Hills of the Ancient Yew group: › www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Lost%20Welsh%20Churchyard%20Yews.pdf Tim Hills also lists another 10 in the Diocese of Bath and Wells: › www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Bath%20and%20Wells%20lost%20yews.pdf Janis Fry started the petition "UK Parliament: Legal protection for ancient yew trees" in September 2018 which closed after 30 days having reached the target of over 10,000 signatures within that time. It is now thought prudent to re open this petition. Please sign the petition here. www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-legal-protection-for-ancient-yew-trees |