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Exbury Gardens

Nearest town: Hythe

Site type: estate

Access: Public

Church name: No Data

Diocese: No Data

County: Hampshire

Country: England

Grid ref: SU42500050

Lost yew site: No

Date visited: 19-Apr-10

Recorded by: Peter Norton

Protection & responsibility: Estate owner

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 4m-5m

Notes: Exbury Gardens are open to the public from March to November. The 'Domesday Yew' is its most significant yew, locally considered to be about 300 years old and a 'relative of a yew recorded amongst a plantation planted by the Normans at Exbury'. Its girth and hollow state suggest it might be even older. There are many other yews in the gardens, notably those near to Gilbury bridge and the Iris garden, where girths are around 10'. These might well have been part of the planting carried out by William Mitford after he purchased the estate in 1726. The most recent planting, shown here, was by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II in May 2004.