Yew Tree Cottage, The Yew In Local Place Names

In conclusion

So after visiting many yew named sites what have I discovered?  Well firstly that Robert Bevan-Jones’s estimate of perhaps 200 Yew Tree Cottages in England is a gross underestimate. I have so far traced over 200 yew named properties in Hampshire alone, most of them Yew Tree Cottages. In addition I have located some 18 Yew Tree Houses and another 40 other yew named properties as well as 20 Yew Tree Farms and 3 Yew Tree Inns. There are no doubt more that have eluded me. Although I know of at least 4 previous Yew Tree Cottages that since lost their names in the last 15 years. There are also 22 roads with yew names, and I have traced 3 modern blocks of apartments such as Yew Tree Court.

My second observation is obvious: names often change. House names are the least permanent. On several occasions when arriving at a Yew Tree Cottage or Farm, I found no such name, only to find by enquiry the cottage was once so named but the name was changed relatively recently.

A single example typifies this occurrence. When I visited a cottage in Greywell, I was told by its owner that the building was used as a school in the 19th Century. Later it became ‘The Old School House’. It changed its name to Yew Tree Cottage after the war and then changed it again 10 years ago to ‘The Old Cottage’. And why? “To avoid confusion” I was told. Since this is a 17th Century Cottage what it was called before it became a Victorian school one can only guess at, it has not been recorded.

Consequently, such evidence of name changing, combined with the lack of recorded verification of yew named properties before the 1850’s leads me to conjecture that probably few yew-names date back beyond 200 years - although, as has been indicated in the text, hard evidence has not been forthcoming.

The much named cottage in Greywell, note the mature, part-clipped, yew alongside

The evidence from the yews themselves indicates that the great majority of trees at yew named sites are mature or younger; I only found a dozen sites where yew girths were about 13' or larger, they include the two ancient yews illustrated earlier. This observation tends to confirm my view that it was the Victorian era which saw a popular rise in naming properties after yew trees. But to draw authoritative conclusions from this study has not been possible. I can only offer tentative likelihoods, not clear cut conclusions.

Of more significance is the realisation that big, prominent yews do not have to be ancient to be regarded as landmarks and can have an impact beyond the spread of their canopies. This influence can lead to several buildings or roads to be named after them. The Swanwick yew in particular survives to indicate this principle. And despite the habit for name changes, some names stick fast and get transferred to new buildings, as I have shown at yew tree farms but also at cottages such as at Cheriton.

Consequently, for a significant minority of the yews I visited I found them to be of genuine interest for reasons more than just age. Either the tree itself had noteworthy characteristics or its local prominence, or its continuing inter-relationship with man makes them worthy of appreciation. So I have therefore created my own shortlist of significant yews in an appendix, with a remark of why they are worthy of note.

Finally it is clear that at about a fifth of all yew named properties there are no yews present today. One can speculate that the trees have long been removed, but again I have no hard evidence. And why should the yew tree name remain in use if such buildings no longer retain their trees?  Inertia or affection for the name perhaps?

Whatever the reason, it is clear that yews still retain their influence in the landscape for people to continue naming new roads or their homes after yew trees. In the 21st century fewer cottages might now be built than apartments. But even new age apartment blocks like to use yew names it appears.

“Yew Trees” an apartment block currently being built in Bishops Waltham

Russell Cleaver, 14 July 2006