Tirley

April 1999 – Tim Hills: The yew was measured in April 1999 and December 2014 and each time a girth of 14′ 10” (452cm) was recorded at the lowest part of the tree. Its bole is visible for about 2′, with twiggy growth above this height. It divides into two main branches at a height of about 18′. In 1999 I saw no sign of hollowing but in 2014 some heartwood spilling to the ground revealed that the hollowing process has begun. This is seen in the second photo. This is the tree described as short and very thick in 1825, yet by the time Mee described the ‘grand old yew’ in his 1938 King’s England he gave it a measurement of ‘eight feet round the trunk’. This has to be an error, since the tree’s trunk was already thick 100 years earlier. It would also mean that it had expanded from 8ft girth in 1939 to nearly 15ft girth in 1999. This sort of growth rate is not known in yew trees.