Carrying the canopy overhead
At Doveridge in Derbyshire, Much Marcle in Herefordshire and Bentley
in Hampshire, branches are kept above head height on timber frames.
The Doveridge Yew was noted in 1883 when the churchyard was visited
by the North Staffordshire Naturalists’ Field Club. They
recorded “a churchyard as historic as the church itself” containing “a
yew of enormous growth”. A walk led by Rev. C.F.L.
Barnwell in 1904 reported that the “magnificent yew tree……spreads
its branches further than any other yew tree in Derbyshire”. This
is also the tree beneath which, in legend, Robin Hood and Maid
Marian were betrothed. Although most branches are held above
the frame, some have been allowed to reach the ground. |
The Much Marcle Yew was visited by the Woolhope Society in 1899.
Their written record of the visit describes the “fine
yew in the churchyard”. Arthur Mee, writing
for The King’s England 40 years later, was not
so restrained, recording an “amazing veteran, a vigorous
yew with a spread of branches 70ft across”.
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