Staunton

In 1924 it was described as ‘an old yew tree with hollow stem, said to be the largest in the county. Its girth is 28 ft 9 in’.
In 1938 Mee (King’s England) recognised the true immensity of this tree, recording ‘a colossal yew 25 feet round and breaking up with age’.
Vaughan Cornish, in the 1940s, wrote to parishes seeking information about their churchyard yews. Hayes replied with the following description: ‘Yew with girth of 33′, limbs extending 30′ on north and 20′ on south side. New bark grows over the old trunk. Limbs well covered with foliage’.
February 1998 -Tim Hills: An exceptional fragment of a great old tree. This will probably eventually separate into two fragments as its distinct sections continue to lean outwards. The two sides of the tree were held together with thick wire.
March 2014 – Peter Norton: Of the three male yews that grow here the largest is close to the west of the tower, fragmented and starting to split into two distinct halves. The girth as taken from the ground on the west side of the tree and keeping the tape level was 25′ 10” (787cm), however following a natural waist line the girth decreases to 25′ 8” (782cm). A twin trunked yew grows midway to the north gate and close to this gate is a yew with a girth of 8′.