Aldworth

Nearest town: Reading

Site type: churchyard

Access: Public

Church name: St Mary

Diocese: Oxford

County: Berkshire

Country: England

Grid ref: SU55407937

Lost yew site: No

Date visited: 1-Nov-97

Recorded by: Tim Hills

Protection & responsibility: Parochial Church Council

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 7m+

Notes: The present church dates largely from the 14th century, but the site is much older. This well documented tree had a girth of about 27' recorded at various times between 1644 and 1972. The Hants Antiquary and Naturalist 1890 reproduced an article that appeared in The Hampshire Independent on October 5th 1889. These extracts are from this article. "At Aldworth, in this county……..there is a yew in the churchyard, supposed to be 1,000 years old, which measures 27ft. in circumference. The tree has not increased in bulk since 1760, when its size is recorded in More’s “Berkshire Queries” as nine yards in girth; and it is well known that trees, particularly the yew, cease to increase in size after a certain age." According to Allen Meredith thee yew was badly damaged by a storm in 1976. The postcards showing the tree before the storm damage were supplied by Christian Wolf.

Site files:

Aldworth-2025.pdf