Forthampton

1877 The Forest and Chace of Malvern (Remarkable Old Trees) by Edwin Lees: ‘There is a yew of great antiquity in Forthampton churchyard, all the upper part of which was blown down by a hurricane in 1839, though the base of the bole (then 26ft. in girth) yet remains, with a living branch extending from it. I obtained a section of one of the branches, of the diameter of 9in., within which were 227 rings of annual growth. If the growth of the bole was in proportion to that of the branch, this yew might be calculated as having existed more than twelve hundred years.”
February 1998 – Tim Hills: This yew had a girth of 27’ in 1820. It has been recorded as both ‘blown down in 1839’ and ‘storm damaged in 1860s’. What remained in 1998 was this 8′ girthed leaning fragment within a containing wall – and a large space to remind us that this was once a formidable tree.
In 2014 the containing wall had gone leaving the tree looking not very different from the other yews of similar girth. The casual onlooker would have no idea that this was regrowth from the stump of a once formidable ancient yew.