Pilton

1988 letter from Robin Cade to David Bellamy, Conservation Foundation: “The tree was struck by lightning in 1920. It is hollow and obviously not as high as it was pre-1920. The ground is poor with rock underneath. Girth of 17′ 10” (544cm) at 3′ and 18′ 5” (561cm) at 4′.”
1993: A girth of 18′ 10” (574cm) at 3′ recorded for the Conservation Foundation, with the following notes from E.Krelis: “Hollow tree, trunk now in several sections. Very difficult to measure with any degree of accuracy. Large hollow spaces inside.”
October 1997 – Tim Hills: A thickened hollow shell with some internal growth. May be splitting apart – chains at 15′ hold parts of the tree together. Girths of 18′ 6″ (564cm) around the base and 17′ 6″ (533cm) at 2′ recorded.
February 2012 – Peter Norton: The large male yew is found at 51.165368,-2.589726. It is hollow and with part of the NE side of the bole missing. The north side also starting to separate. Five leaders are hollow and all are chained together at about 15′. Two internal stems can be seen, the larger of the two with a girth of 1′ 6” near to the ground. Girth of the tree measured at 2′ from the ground and therefore not including a small piece of fragmented stump was 17′ 3” (526cm).
2016 – Tim Hills: 17′ 9½” (543cm) at 2′ and 18′ 6” (564cm) at the ground. Disturbance of the soil at the base suggests this will be an unreliable place to take comparative measurements over time.