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Mylor

Nearest town: Falmouth

Site type: churchyard

Access: Public

Church name: St Mylor

Diocese: Truro

County: Cornwall

Country: England

Grid ref: SW82043524

Lost yew site: Yes

Date visited: 12-Jan-12

Recorded by: Tim Kellett

Protection & responsibility: Parochial Church Council

Yews recorded at this site: Lost, Notable

Notes: In 1863 A Story of Carn Brea by John Harris contains an essay entitled A Ramble to Mylor Churchyard. On p101 we are told that 'One old yew-tree, near the sea-side entrance, is remarkably large: I never saw such a noble specimen before in 'any city of the dead.' It spreads its mighty branches far around, which cannot be much less than 60 feet in diameter. We were sorry to learn, from a courteous inhabitant of this favoured spot, that some selfish individuals have recently been lopping off its giant limbs and turning them into pieces of household furniture, more careful to fill their purses than preserve this sacred relic of olden time. O, shame upon their sacreligious hands! Could our voice be heard amid the rush of those earnest seekers after gain, we would utter a piercing cry, "O spare the old yew tree." Under its far spreading branches, in a deep wide grave, lie a heap of human beings, who were drowned at the loss of the "Transport" on Trefusis Point many years ago.' In the 1869 New Monthly magazine by Oleh William Harrison Ainsworth, is a poem on p66 entitled Mylor church and Falmouth harbour by Nicholas Michell. One verse begins: 'beneath thy famed and mighty yews'. In another are the following lines: 'Yew, venerable, sombre, stately tree! Yew, braving tempests through a thousand years.' In 1870 two remarkably fine yew trees were recorded growing near the east end of the church. One was described as 'covering a considerable portion of the churchyard' (Complete Parochial history of the County of Cornwall ed J.Polsue). Only one remains today.