Mamhead

February 1999 – Tim Hills: An exceptional yew, with a clean 7′ high bole 32′ in girth (similar girth at any height). From the edges young branches radiate into a symmetrical crown.
September 2012 – Peter Norton: Girth of 31′ 6” at about 6”.
The following is from a letter written by Shirley Callard’s husband’s great-grandfather in 1903. It confirms why the tree looks as it does today. ‘The outer portion of this desk was made from a portion of a yew tree now standing in Mamhead churchyard a great number of years before the top of the tree was sawn off just level, about eight feet from the ground. At that point shot up 15, I now call them trees, at and over 2 feet in diameter, they grow just close together except an opening between 2 of them, just as I could go in on the top. When I tell you I measured it and it was twelve feet across, you will not be surprised if I tell you that tea parties have been taken in there, and it was said that the pulpit in the church was made from the top sawn off.’