Eibenfreunde – Friends of the Yew – was founded in
1994 following the publication of Die Eibe (The Yew) by Dr.Thomas
Scheeder. Membership has grown to more than 550.
As well as providing an outlet for world wide scientific research
in its annual publication, Der Eibenfreund, the group organises
site visits throughout the year. In addition a major excursion is
planned annually for members to visit yew stands in countries as
far afield as China and the West Caucasus Mountains. In 2006 it
was England’s turn to organise and host an extended field
trip.
38 Eibenfreunde members from Germany, Switzerland and Austria were
able to take part. Their number included botanists, foresters and
dendrologists, several of whom have published papers about their
yew research. We intend that some of this research should become
available to a wider audience on our new Eibenfreunde web page.
Below is a brief introduction to the 2006 excursion. More information
and photographs will become available in due course.
WOODLAND SITES
Kingley Vale, Newland’s Corner, Druid’s Grove, Butser
Hill and a private woodland in Wiltshire were visited.
At Kingley Vale we were accompanied by Richard Williamson, author
of Kingley Vale:The Great Yew Forest and the assistant park ranger,
James Giles. As the highest point of our guided tour we overlooked
vast acreages of yew forest and were shown a memorial stone dedicated
to the botanist Sir Arthur Tansley. In 1911 he stood here with
his German colleague professor Drude, who is said to have remarked:
“You did not tell me that you were going to show me the
finest yew forest in Europe”.
The two discussed that such important sites had no legal protection
and years later Tansley was to found the British Ecological Society.
He is often described as the father of the ecology and conservation
movements in this country.
It seems fitting that such an important yew site should have been
chosen to commemorate this event.
It is hoped that Eibenfreunde’s visit almost 100 years
later might have a similar impact and become the catalyst that
leads at last to the proper protection of our old yews. It seems
extraordinary that in Britain we do not celebrate our yew heritage,
while our visitors who have studied yew populations all over the
world have no doubt of the uniqueness of Britain’s yews.
We owe a debt of gratitude to people like Richard Williamson,
who at one time was instructed to fell a quarter of his ‘Great
Yew Forest’ (about 7500 trees). His courage in saying no
means that Drude’s ‘finest yew forest’ survives
intact. We cannot say the same about the ancient yews destroyed
on land at the Alice Holt Forest in Hampshire.
Our guide at Druid’s Grove was Graham Manning, Area Ranger
for Surrey Wildlife Trust. He led us through young yews growing
at the woodland edge to the great ancient specimens growing on
the steep slopes either side of the path through the main grove.
Graham also introduced to us Stephen Glasspool, Countryside Ranger
for Brockham Lime Works. At this site thousands of yews were planted
to replace the 200 year old specimens destroyed in the storms
of 1987 and 1991. Stephen, who has a long contract to manage this
site, also brought some yew bows for us to examine.
Stephen Glasspool demonstrates modern yew bow Copyright© 2006
Christian Wolf
Butser Hill is now part of the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and
owned by Hampshire County Council. Its status is recognised both
in its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and
as a National Nature Reserve. More recently it has been proposed
by the Government as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which
would recognise its importance from a European perspective.
Steve Peach’s power point presentation outlining the site’s
history was followed by an opportunity to see at first hand the
subtle changes in land use. It is good to know that the yews of
Butser Hill are in safe hands.
The management of Newland’s Corner is shared. A part on
land owned by the Duke of Northumberland is managed by Surrey
Wildlife Trust. The remainder, owned by Guildford Borough Council,
is managed by their own Parks and Countryside department. We were
grateful that Bob Crompton from Surrey Wildlife Trust Countryside
Services could join us and share his detailed knowledge of the
site. His planned tour took us through regeneration and small
yews, culminating at the largest yews in the grove. As this was
our last day it provided a fitting climax to the whole trip.
HILL FORT SITES
Two contrasting Hill Fort sites were visited. The privately owned
Merdon Castle boasts several ancient yews growing both on the
outer and the inner rings of the fortress. Adjacent to the hill
fort was a plantation of yews that appeared to be about 200 years
old, while on a slope close to the site entrance dozens of heavily
browsed yews struggled to reach a height at which they might become
viable.
Danebury Hill, in the care of Hampshire County Council, has fine
open views across the surrounding countryside. Its Site of Special
Scientific Interest designation does not include the yews, which
grow mainly in a densely wooded area below the fortification.
Those on open land close to the hill fort have had numerous low
branches removed in an attempt to allow more light to reach the
ground, supposedly encouraging grass to grow beneath the trees
and prevent soil erosion. Since SSSI status means that Hampshire
County Council have to “obtain consent from English Nature
to carry out any task that is likely to damage the site”,
it must be assumed that English Nature are aware of this heavy
handed tree management.
CHURCHYARD SITES
No visit to England would be complete without visiting some of
our immense churchyard specimens. The following were visited:
South Hayling, Warblington, West Tisted, Itchen Abbas, Breamore
and Tandridge. Our thanks to the following for greeting us so
warmly and opening their churches: Richard Brand at Tandridge,
John Bouldin at Itchen Abbas, Colin Bushby at South Hayling and
Andrew Pearson at Warblington.
The Tandridge Yew © Christian Wolf
The Waverley Abbey site was visited to see the old yew growing
on its ruined walls. This English Heritage site marks the first
Cistercian settlement in Britain, founded in 1128. After the Abbey
was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1536 it became a source of local
building materials.
YEW AVENUES
We visited two of England’s celebrated yew avenues, both
on private land. At Chilton Candover the two lines of yew 40 yards
apart are thought to date from 1670 or earlier and stretch for
almost a mile.
We were also taken by Sue Marriott, the owner, to see a partially
sunken Norman crypt, only discovered when the site, adjacent to
the yew avenue, was excavated in 1927.
The second avenue is more correctly described as a line of yews.
This site is part of the Duke of Northumberland’s estate
at Albury in Surrey. It is considered to have been planted by
John Evelyn when he designed the gardens in the 1660s. 130 yews
survive and there are 37 stumps. The future management of the
trees is under consideration and the opinion of Eibenfreunde members
will be passed to the estate management team.
ARBORETUM
A visit to the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens was intended to provide
a break from the yew. However Wolfgang Bopp, the curator, had
asked that we look at yews growing on the Garden’s boundary
with Ampfield Wood. Concensus of opinion was that the oldest here
was likely to be well over 500 years, and the trees have therefore
been added to our data base.
We were grateful to head gardener Fran Zaenglein for giving up
her time to provide a guided tour – for once a translator
was not necessary. She accepted, on behalf of the arboretum, a
yew and a wild service tree, brought from Switzerland to maintain
the Eibenfreunde tradition of planting a yew to commemorate their
international visits.
A yew was also planted in the grounds of King Alfred’s Campus
at the University of Winchester.
Eibenfreunde member Thomas Kellner, who was responsible for bringing
these tree gifts to England, has returned to Germany with 20 cuttings
from ancient British yews. These cuttings were taken as part of
the Conservation Foundation’s Yews for the Millennium campaign,
which has already distributed more than 8000 such trees to parishes
throughout Britain. In about 5 years time when they are ready
for planting out we can be sure that in a country where the yew
is a protected species, the planting ceremonies will be well publicised
and we can be sure the trees will be looked after with pride.
CONFERENCE
A half day conference was addressed by AYG members Toby Hindson,
Paul Greenwood and Fred Hageneder. It was also attended by AYG
contributory members Russell Cleaver and Peter Andrews.
Toby Hindson had prepared 3 lectures: Alice Holt, Yew Dating Field
Work Methodology and Yew Dating and Stages of Growth. Paul Greenwood
spoke about the yews growing wild in Upland Britain. It is hoped
that transcripts of these lectures will eventually be available
on our web site. Fred Hageneder not only acted as interpreter
throughout this 2½ hours but found sufficient stamina to
conclude events with a lecture and slides of yews in Turkey and
Sardinia, the latter being the proposed venue for Eibenfreunde’s
international visit in 2008.
UNIVERSITY of WINCHESTER - King Alfred Campus
A special vote of thanks for the excellent facilities provided
by this college. Their attention to detail, unfailing civility
and willingness to alter plans at short notice contributed to
making Eibenfreunde’s 2006 Field Trip a richly rewarding
and unforgettable experience.
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