The New Murrey and Blue blog

When it comes to yew trees (European variety – taxus baccata, picture from the Woodland Trust) the British Isles are very well endowed, not only with thousands of fine specimens, but hundreds of fine ancient specimens. Who hasn’t noticed the yew trees that grow by our parish churches? It’s said they’re a remnant of pagan times, when Christian churches were built on sites of far-from-Christian worship.

But which British Isles yew tree (Taxus baccata) can claim to be the oldest? Well, it was this article that prompted me to write, so we’ll kick off with Scotland.

“….The Fortingall Yew [see above illustration] is at the geographical heart of Scotland and stands within the Fortingall churchyard, and is thought to be between 2,000 and 9,000 years old (depending on which source you believe) with connections to early Christianity in Scotland….” Nine thousand years seems a stretch too far to me,  but anything’s possible!

Next comes Wales, which is  claimed in the Daily Mail to have a 5,000 yew in the churchyard at  St Cynog’s, Defynnog near Sennybridge, Powys.  This one’s pretty old, and just look how far it spreads in the photograph. 60 feet! More than 5,000 years old? Well, I suppose DNA and tree rings don’t lie!

But it has a rival, the Llangernyw Yew in Conwy, at 4,000–5,000 years.

They sure live a long time in Wales!

England clocks in at third place The Ankerwycke Yew, located  near St Mary’s Priory in Berkshire.

“….Beneath a veil of dark, shaggy needles; is a colossal, colourful trunk. The girth exceeds 9 meters (over 29 ½ feet!) While its exact age is unknown, estimates have placed it between 2000 and 2500 years old….”

With all our yew trees I would have thought England could at least produce one as long-lived as Scotland and Wales! Shame.

Now, when it comes to Irish yew trees (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’), there’s a glitch in my list, because it seems Irish yews aren’t the same as the Taxus baccata that grows on the mainland and in Europe in general. You can read about the Irish variety here.

There are two Irish yews that can claim to be the oldest in Ireland. One is in the grounds of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and is known as the Silken Thomas tree, which is upwards of 800 years old.

Others say the oldest is the witch’s yew tree, Blarney Castle, Cork, which is in excess of 600 years.

I confess to not quite understanding this distinction between Irish yews and the rest of us, because it seems they weren’t discovered until the 18th century (if I’ve read correctly). This rather implies that there weren’t any yew trees at all in Ireland before this date. But, as Ireland has escaped vile serpents, perhaps it escaped plain old yew trees as well.

But no, it seems Taxus baccata occurs in some some places, as shown here, but “….the current area is not considered adequate to ensure the long term survival of the habitat in Ireland, although no decline has been reported. Suitable areas for the habitat are very restricted in Ireland (Cross and Lynn, 2013)….”

So maybe the European yews’ days are numbered on the Emerald Isle, and maybe not.

As for the oldest yew tree in the entire world? Well, according to this list, the crown goes to the Llangernyw yew.