Welsh Journals

The Mamhilad Yew J. Daryll Evans In the famous Elegy, Gray wrote of "that yew-tree's shade, where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap". He had in mind a single large tree, set within a churchyard. The oldest yew at Mamhilad is a fine example. The oldest yew at Mamhilad, its branches brushing the South porch of St. Illtyd's Church A number of observers have measured it. The first on record was Archdeacon William Coxe, on his "Historical Tour of Monmouthshire" (Coxe 1802). Then, in 1844, a monumental work on British trees made reference to the tree (Loudon 1844). Some half a century later, the Rector of Mamhilad, the Reverend Christopher Cook, took the circumference (Lowe 1897). He was followed by the botanist H.A. Hyde in 1929 (Hyde 1961). And the eminent dendrologist Alan Mitchell (1972) included the Mamhilad yew as his only Welsh representative in a list of thirty-two specimens of exceptional girth. The various values obtained over the years are given in the Table below.