Yew Tree Cottage, The Yew In Local Place Names

Yew Tree Farms

The Swanwick yew offers a more convincing case of being old enough to lend its name to a local farm. Whilst nearly 11' in girth this tree looks to be a veteran, it is hollow and grows close to a Yew Tree Farm dated 1759. Despite its roadside location this tree has lasted well; it is certainly a survivor, its new brick wall must have cut off many roots, tarmac covers part of the root plate but it thrives still. Unfortunately it is not known when the farmhouse was named after the yew tree.
Maps aren’t much help either; the building is marked but not named on earlier maps.

Another Yew Tree Farm near Southampton can be tracked by maps; it is so entitled on modern maps but can be found on the 1872 OS Map as a Yew Tree House. Interestingly, this Farm is accessed along a Yew Tree Lane and the earlier map also shows a Yew Tree Cottage nearby. This cottage no longer exists; it was probably demolished when the present 1960’s council housing development was built. The only yew to survive in this location today is a hollow, decaying tree of 9' girth in front of the farm. Yet this building dates back 400 years; one wonders how long it has been named after a yew; how old the surviving tree is and whether other yews were once present. Sadly it seems unlikely we will ever know.

Yew Tree Farm, Southampton, present on the 1st series OS map.

Of the 20 Yew Tree Farms I have so far located in Hampshire, I have visited 15 to date. Most are no longer working farms but their farmhouses or out buildings have become desirable residences. The name of Yew Tree Farm is often retained and what is more, farm buildings when sold off sometimes inherit this yew title. Consequently, one yew name can, so to speak, germinate others. So today we can find a yew tree farm (or farmhouse) next to a yew tree cottage or similar. Examples of this trend occur at Goodworth Clatford, Hollington, Langrish, Awbridge and at Ball Hill etc.

The situation at Goodworth Clatford near Andover typifies how farms today often reflect the changes in modern agricultural ownership. This small village is similar to many in Hants, except in that it hosts 6 properties all named after yews. As well as a Yew Tree Farm it boasts a Yew Tree Farmhouse, a Yew Tree Cottage, The Yews, Yew Barn and a Yew Bank - all within half a mile of each other, with even a road named Yew Tree Close, a modern cul-de-sac. Upon investigation, the YT Farm and YT Barn turned out to be both modern barn conversions of a Victorian farm, now called YT Farmhouse. This house was apparently separated from the original farm some twenty years ago and sold off. Nearby a ’Yew Bank' and adjacent 'The Yews' look to be Victorian agricultural cottages, which now form desirable houses. Whilst some 200 metres away lays 'Yew Tree Cottage', an old thatched property that historically is the oldest and most interesting of all; for this was once the original Yew Tree Farm, whose farmland was used to build many of the village’s modern houses.
Yet in this village, around all these properties, is little actual evidence of yew trees today. The only genuinely old tree was a veteran female yew in the back garden of the once farm that is called Yew Tree Cottage. Unfortunately, the owners I spoke to were recent residents; nobody was able to explain the history of the farm’s dismemberment and how so many yew names were adopted. I assume the veteran yew at Yew Tree Cottage begat the naming process and as properties were split up the name was retained. But other old yews might once have been present and now lost, who knows?

It is evident that as farms have evolved and changed over time, their names have evolved too. Since large farms are better recorded on maps than cottages, the changes to their names is easier to track. At Awbridge I even found a mapped Yew Tree Farm that is today named Oak Tree Farm. (There is but one mature yew but lots of large oaks.)

Of the 15 farms visited, five had no trees, the rest all retain mature yews. The largest yew is at a farmhouse near Highclere, it is a fascinating 15'4'' girth tree with a clipped bell shaped canopy. The farmhouse is timber framed and probably over 200 years old. That was all the owners were able to tell me of their farm. I would guess their yew is at least twice that age.

Yew Tree Pubs

There are far fewer pubs today than there were a hundred years ago. Pubs names have changed too, as many of us may know from their own local. There are four yew tree pubs recorded in Hampshire, three are still licensed, and the other is now a yew tree cottage. The history of these pubs has been better recorded than that even of yew tree farms. Their public function at the heart of communities has probably been the reason for this. Unfortunately only one pub has a yew that is truly impressive.

The Yew Tree Inn at Highclere is now more of a restaurant than a local pub. Its history has been well researched, originally a terrace of cottages this Inn was first reputedly serving ale in 1620. When it first acquired its yew name is however, uncertain. It was known as “The Pheasant” in the 19th Century. The small, reduced yew at its corner has a girth of 8'4''so is unlikely to predate the building.

The Yew Tree Inn on Hayling Island is at the junction of a Yew Tree Road. The only yew present today grows in the pub’s grounds, in rather a cramped site beside a children’s play feature. The tree’s girth is a mere 7'10'' but the pub’s name dates back at least to the 1860’s, as a charming early photograph displayed at the bar shows. My guess is that either the pub or the adjacent Yew Tree Road once held other yew trees.

Yew Tree Inn, Hayling Island. Note the tree’s canopy at the rear.

The last pub, “The Yew Tree”, is hard to find on a minor road in the middle of Hampshire near the hamlet of Lower Wield. But it is well worth a visit. It is reputedly 650 years old, though it was first recorded as a cottage selling ale beside yew trees in 1845. The pub boasts a fine veteran yew, see photograph. Its girth is 15'5'' with a hollow trunk clothed in ivy. Both this pub and the Hayling Island pub are unpretentious, old fashioned pubs serving real ale, whose landlords cherish their pub’s link to their trees. Interestingly they were both unaware of each others existence.

“The Yew Tree” Lower Wield, a fine fifteen footer at its corner.

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