Ancient Yew Trees in Mid Wales

Did you know that the oldest yew tree in Powys is older than Stone Henge, and that the yews of Mid Wales are numbered among the oldest trees in the world?

Having lived and worked in Powys for nearly ten years, James Stewart-Brown has come to appreciate the unique wealth of ancient yew trees in Mid Wales. It is because of his respect for our trees that he is campaigning for something to be done to protect them from well-meaning individuals who might now or in the future harm them through ignorance of their tolerance to work on or around them. This may sound paranoid, but there has been more than one instance in Powys of over-zealous pollarding, carried out to make more space in the churchyard or let more light in, killing an ancient yew.

What is probably Powys' finest example of these ancient yews can be found in Llanfaredd churchyard. The girth of this tree is over 35ft, making this tree approximately 3,500 years old. As with so many churches, this one was probably built on the site of a much older temple, and the research carried out on ancient yews by Allen Meredith has shown that the original temples themselves were built on these sites because of the presence there of what was already an ancient tree, which symbolised everlasting life or life after death to the Celts. By Allen Meredith's reckoning, one can date the site of the original temple to be Neoloithic where the church is to the south of the yew.

The figures below (from Allen Meredith's research) show how slowly these trees grow once they are of an age.

Girth of tree	Estimated age
9ft	240 years
12ft	300 years
18ft	720 years
21ft	1,020 years
24ft	1,360 years
27ft	1,800 years
30ft	2,400 years
33ft	3,000 years
35ft	4,400 years
36ft	5,600 years

The purpose of the campaign is to protect these venerable trees from harm by calling on the Parochial Church Councils to apply for Tree Preservation Orders to be placed on these churchyard yews, thereby ensuring that the council's tree expert is consulted before work is permitted. TPOs are obtained from the Local Authority by the owner or custodian, who should send a letter of request and consent, accompanied by a map showing the location of the tree.

Applications should be sent to one of the following:

J. B. Wright, Brecknockshire Office, Neuadd Brycheiniog, Cambrian Way, Brecon LD3 7HL.
J. B. Wright, Radnorshire Office, The Gwalia, Llandrindod Wells LD1 6AA.
Gareth Thomas, Montgomeryshire Office, Meuadd Maldwyn, Severn Road, Welshpool SY21 7AS.

James is putting together a directory of ancient yews in Mid Wales which will be passed on to the Conservation Foundation and will also be made available to the public locally when completed. For this reason, he is requesting that all Parish and Parochial Councils send him a record of the girth and position within the churchyards of all the ancient yew trees, to the address below:

Wye Valley Tree Surgery,
Gwarceiros Cottage
Llangammarch Wells
Powys LD4 4EN

Tel. 01591 620420