Codford St Mary

1988 Conservation Foundation Country Living Yew Tree Campaign: A letter from Jane and Jennifer Stilwell 6/3/88 states “We have measured three of the six yew trees which grow in the churchyard. They are situated in a position NE of the church, and the measurements of the three largest are:
1-12′ 2” (371cm) at 3′ and 13′ 9” (419cm) at 4′. An age of 400 years was estimated and a certificate sent.
2- 8′ 9” (267cm) at 3′ and 9′ 10” (300cm) at 4′ – this tree splits into two at approximately 2′ 6” from the ground. An age of 240 years was estimated an a certificate sent.
3- 6′ 7” (201cm) at 3′ and 6′ 10” (208cm) at 4′. An age of 130 years was estimated and a certificate sent.”
When Peter Norton visited in 2010 he did not have this information. He recorded the 3 yews growing near the northeast perimeter and adjacent to a private residence close to the church. He estimated their girths as between 7’ and 9’.
In 2026, having become aware that yews in this churchyard had been certified in 1988 and given estimated ages of 400, 240 and 130 years, he returned to examine them more closely. He noted “a grouping of 3 + 1 yews and a further one around the wall they are planted against. They emerge from a 3ft deep by 20ft long pile of churchyard debris consisting of loose soil, leaves and dead flowers.” Girths of the three were between the 7 to 9 feet he had recorded previously, with the middle yew of the group clearly the largest. The tree measured as between 12′ 2” and 13′ 9” no longer appears to be growing here.