The Defynnog Yew (Welsh : Yewen Defynnog) (SN9253027960) is one of a group of ancient yews ( Taxus baccata ) in the churchyard of St Cynog church, that serves the parish and the village of Defynnog, community of Maescar, historic county of Brecknockshire, now within the unitary authority area of Powys, Wales. Defynnog is located close to Sennybridge, circa ten miles west of Brecon within the Brecon Beacons National Park (Bannau Brycheiniog).
This group of four ancient yews lies within the churchyard, the oldest aged by one assessment at 3018 years. [1] It grows from a mound measuring 8m across and 1m high and forms nine distinct stems that grow from a base which has an overall circumference of 11m, or 36 feet. The second yew growing on the north side of the church lies 5m to its west. Although shown to be genetically identical, [2] such a distance makes it highly unlikely that they are fragments of what was once a single tree. The second yew has possibly layered from a pendulous branch (see video) of the larger one; yews quite often layer from branches which are able to touch the ground and then develop roots. [1] An Iron Age date is suggested from the available dendrochronology and growth rate studies indicating that the yews are more probably around 2,500 years. [1]
In 2005 a single male branch was found to be growing on the largest of the two female trees. Yew trees are usually only a single sex, that is dioecious, requiring two trees of different sex to interact to produce seed, however it is not uncommon for trees to be both sexes monoecious. [3] A small area of the smaller tree has a growth of albino white leaves. [4] Both trees have unusually extensive Epicormic shoot growth coating the trunks in green leaves, a provcess that usually only occurs after physical damage to the bark or increased light levels.
As stated, the two trees lying to the north of the church are a genetically identical pair. [5] [3] This is not thought to be because of fragmentation with the section between rotting away, layering is a definite possibility, [3] and a lightning strike causing the tree to split into two is a very remote possibility. [3] [6] Pendulous yews with long horizontal branches that eventually touch the groud and root are well documented such as the Craigends Yew in Scotland. The two yews on the south side of the church are not genetically identical to those on the north side or to each other. [3]
The trees have a number of epiphytes such as ferns, ivy, liverworts, lichens and mosses that are encouraged by the high humidity maintained by the leaf cover of this evergreen species.
This yew tree or trees stands in the churchyard of St. Cynog's Church in Defynnog village. It is very hard to accurately determine the age of yew trees [7] [8] and a nearby cafe and gift shop holds a certificate from the Yew Tree Campaign in 2002, signed by David Bellamy, which states that "according to all the data we have to hand" the tree is dated to approximately 5,000 years old. David Bellamy used the same methods as he did when establishing the age of the Tisbury Yew in Wiltshire, including radiocarbon dating. [9]
This cerificate makes the Defynnog Yew potentially even older than Scotland's well known Fortingall Yew. An investigation into its age does not support this view. [3] It is considered more likely that the two yew trees are in the order of two to three thousand years old. [10]
Wales has 407 ancient or veteran yews that are more than 500 years old, whilst England has 978. France has 77 while Germany and Spain have just four each. [11]
The local church, dedicated to Saint Cynog is mainly Norman in date, [12] however the porch houses an ancient stone with Latin and ogham inscriptions and is a grade I listed building. The Defynnog Yew predates the church and may have been planted to mark a meeting place or a place of burial as suggested by the above-mentioned burial stone. [13] Cynog is thought to have been the son of St. Brychan, a Welsh prince of the British Dark Ages.
Graves have been dug between the two yew trees and the trees have been each surrounded at some date by low decorative stone walling.
Yews are native to Wales and being extremely poisonous to stock and humans many have been dug up or planted within stock proof enclosures such as churchyards where they commonly occur. The yew's wood is traditionally used to make longbows and the generic name 'Taxus' refers to the wood's connection to the sport of archery, namely toxophily.
Taxus is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. Yews occur around the globe in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, northernmost in Norway and southernmost in the South Celebes. Some populations exist in tropical highlands.
Taxus baccata is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, northern Iran, and Southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may now be known as common yew, English yew, or European yew. It is primarily grown as an ornamental. Most parts of the plant are poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation and through the skin; consumption of even a small amount of the foliage can result in death.
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also be known as a kirkyard.
The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. Considered one of the oldest trees in Britain, modern estimates place its age at an average of 5,000 years.
Fortingall is a small village in Glen Lyon, Perthshire, Scotland. Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore.
Methuselah is a 4,855-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world. The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who is said to have reached 969 years of age before his death, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.
Càrn na Marbh is a re-used Bronze Age tumulus, located in Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. The mound was used in the 14th century for burying victims of the plague away from the church graveyard. A stone, known as Clach a' Phlàigh, "the Plague Stone" crowns the mound and may be an original standing stone and commemorates the plague victims who were buried here in the 14th century. A tablet on the stone is inscribed with the words:
“Here lie the victims of the Great Plague of the 14th Century, taken here on a sledge drawn by a white horse led by an old woman.”
The Llangernyw Yew ( ) is an ancient yew in the village of Llangernyw, Conwy, North Wales. The tree is fragmented and its core part has been lost, leaving several enormous offshoots. The girth of the tree at the ground level is 10.75 m (35.3 ft).
The Florence Court Yew is the surviving specimen of the two original Irish yew seedlings. As such, it is the oldest Irish yew alive and it is believed that almost all Irish yews worldwide descend from this specimen. It is located in Florence Court demesne in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and is cared for by the National Trust.
Defynnog, also known as Devynock in some historical documents, is a small village in the community of Maescar in the historic county of Brecknockshire, Wales, now lying within the unitary authority area of Powys. It lies immediately south of Sennybridge and about ten miles west of Brecon within the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Taxine alkaloids, which are often named under the collective title of taxines, are the toxic chemicals that can be isolated from the yew tree. The amount of taxine alkaloids depends on the species of yew, with Taxus baccata and Taxus cuspidata containing the most. The major taxine alkaloids are taxine A and taxine B although there are at least 10 different alkaloids. Until 1956, it was believed that all the taxine alkaloids were one single compound named taxine.
Bermiego Yew, also called in Asturias "Teixu l'Ilesia" is an ancient tree of the species Taxus baccata growing in the village of Bermiego in the Principality of Asturias, northern Spain on the western slope of the Sierra del Aramo. The tree can be found just outside the village within the precincts of the village chapel of Santa Maria de Bermiego.
The Church of St John the Baptist is a Church of England parish church in Ashbrittle, Somerset. It was built in the 15th century, and is a Grade II* listed building.
The Craigends Yew (NS4199566134) is an ancient European layering yew growing next to the River Gryffe in what were the grounds of the Craigends Estate, Houston in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Estimates put its age at around 500 to 700 years old and it is one of the largest and oldest examples of a heritage layering yew in Scotland.
Millennium yews were planted in 2000 as part of a joint scheme between the Church of England and the Conservation Foundation, UK to celebrate the end of the 2nd millennium. The church promised a cutting, taken from some of the yews in its churchyards that are more than 2,000 years old, to any parish that wanted one. It expected to distribute a few hundred but by the end of 2000 had distributed 8,000. The project helped raise awareness of environmental issues within the church and provided a large collection of yew trees of known provenance.
The Ashbrittle Yew is an ancient yew tree located in the village of Ashbrittle, Somerset, in southwest England. The yew grows on a tumulus in the south-east end of the churchyard of St. John the Baptist. Yews are capable of living for several thousands of years; the Ashbrittle Yew itself is believed to be over 3,000 years old, but defining its precise age is difficult due to its hollow centre. The tree is formed of a hollow central trunk surrounded by six narrower boles. In 2015 its measured diameter was 39'11".