Penallt

1940: The vicar in 1940, Rev.du Heaume, recorded in his Parish Guide that ‘it had a narrow escape on July 6th, 1939, when it was discovered to be on fire and, but for the speedy intervention of the Vicar and Miss Amphlett, the People’s Warden, who immediately summoned the Fire Brigade, it would have been burned to the ground and in all possibility, taken the Church nearby with it. But with the firemen’s help, the raging fire in the hollow trunk was extinguished’. From Penallt Revisited ed VF Kilmer 2009
1987: When J.Daryll Evans measured the yew in 1987 he recorded a circumference of 730 cm (24′) at 90cm.
Tim Hills 1998 and 2006: The yew grows east of the church. In 2006 I recorded 22′ 9” (693cm) at the ground, noting that about 8′ of this was dead wood.
Peter Norton – 2016: The impressive female yew grows at the east of the church. It has a lower bulbous and hollow bole. There were once two internal stems but one was burnt away during the fire of 1939. New wood is flowing over some of the old wood and the crown was healthy. A girth of 22′ 11” (698.5cm) was recorded using a mixture of root crown and ground. Several embedded nails aided the recording.