38. Llangernyw Yew
Wales is renowned for its ancient yews, one of the very oldest grows in the pretty village of Llangernyw not far from Colwyn Bay.
The Llangernyw Yew is claimed to be the oldest tree in Wales. It is certainly very ancient, and is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque yews anywhere. It grows in the churchyard of the pretty whitewashed church of St Digain which it predates by milennia. A large void, until the 1990s filled with an oil tank, is surrounded by trunk fragments which support a neat, healthy crown.
Species details
Yew
Taxus baccata
Where to find it
Eglwys St Digain, Uwch Afon, Llangernyw LL22 8PR
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Ancient yew notes
Yews can live for thousands of years, and those few trees living in these islands that may be several thousand years old have quite distinct features that help us determine they are the most ancient. A yew tree that is a thousand years old may have a great stout trunk. Over the next millennium of life its trunk will become hollow, and then in the succeeding millennia, there will be more hollow than trunk. This is what has happened at Llangernyw where the tree appears to be several. As the hollow grew, the remaining trunk gradually split apart to form several ‘new’ trunks each growing away from a void.
