Claines

In 1846 the following was said about this churchyard: ‘it is presided over by a still greater piece of antiquity, namely, a very venerable but now decaying yew, apparently six or seven centuries old’. Confirmation of this yew’s existence was captured by the artist W.B.Leader in this painting dated 1863. It appears in the Friends of Claines Church website: http://www.clainesfriends.org.uk/ Today, growing in the same position as Leader’s yew, there stands a golden yew – its age perhaps between 60 and 80 years, though it is possible that a more accurate record of its planting date might be found in the church warden’s records. It was presumably planted when the ancient yew finally succumbed.