Seavington Yews
SEAVINGTON YEWS
In South Somerset we have a wealth of wonderful yew trees - they are much older than our listed buildings!
We have two particularly fine very old yews, one in each churchyard which have been looked after sympathetically. Dating yews is very problematic as they do not have growth rings like most other trees. In the right environment and without human interference, yew trees are thought to live for ever.
The tree in St Michaels is we think maybe possibly 800 years old, the original foundations for St Michael’s church date 11-1200. The one in St Mary’s churchyard maybe a little older as it is hollow now and re-growing.
When eventually fungus rots the inner core of yews over many years, the tree will start growing again by throwing down aerial roots into the base of the hollow and starting again using nutrition from its rotted core, eventually the original shell of the tree splits and falls outwards and carries on throwing down new roots often in a circle, over hundreds of years the circle of yew trees can be large.
The St Michael’s yew is a very neat and tidy shape and measures 4.73m - I’m afraid I haven’t got the measurements of St Mary’s church yew to hand but it is bigger and therefore probably older!.
In Hinton St George a couple of miles away, a yew has just been discovered in a private property that is probably about 3,000 years old!
Ry Coffman 2010