As long ago as 1834 the churchyard at Overton-on-Dee was “remarkable
for the great number of yew trees of extraordinary growth with which
it abounds” (Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of
Wales). Its 23 yews have earned it the more recent title
of one of the ‘Seven wonders of Wales’. Its oldest yew,
consisting of two fragments, has since been enclosed within a fence. Propping
also keeps the path clear at Ruyton-XI-Towns in Shropshire and South
Hayling in Hampshire, without necessitating the removal of branches.
