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St Cynog's Churchyard Yew Tree, Defynnog

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NPRN405602
Map ReferenceSN92NW
Grid ReferenceSN9253027960
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPowys
Old CountyBrecknockshire
CommunityMaescar
Type Of SiteTREE
PeriodPrehistoric
Description

1. Occupying a position to the immediate north of St Cynog's Church in Defynnog is a large yew tree. The largest of four large yews within the churchyard, it forms nine distinct stems springing from a base which has an overall circumference of 11m, or 36 feet. It grows from a mound measuring 8m across and 1m high.
This is perhaps the Defynnog Yew which was noted, in 2004, as having an age of 3018 years (1).
A second yew lies 5m to its west, and two others in the churchyard lie at SN92562795 and SN92542791 respectively.
(1) Sunday Times, 25.04.2004 [original source not given]

D.K.Leighton, RCAHMW, 12 December 2006

2. Claims for the great antiquity of the Defynnog yew, initially 3018 years, were extended to 5000 years by J.Fry in ‘The God Tree’ (2012). This was based on the presumption that the yew in question is one of a pair with a nearby smaller yew (to the west), the two being fragments of the trunk of one large prehistoric yew.

DNA evidence confirms that the two are genetically identical, a clonal pair. But given the well-documented difficulties in dating yews, the dates for the Defynnog Yew and the rationale behind them have been questioned, following close field examination (Hindson 2014). The ground plan between the two yews, and particularly the distance between them (about 5m), precludes the possibility they are fragments of a single tree. Instead, the smaller specimen has probably layered from the larger one; yews often layer from branches which are allowed to touch the ground, each thriving as individual trees when obvious traces of their connection have gone.
Such dendrochronology and growth rate studies as have been carried out to date suggest that the yews are likely to be half to one third of the age claimed by Fry, so no older than 2,500 years. An Iron Age date is possible for this tree.

There are concerns that the recent fame of the Defynnog yews is leading to damage caused by visitor pressure resulting in root compaction, as well as the removal of wood from the trees by souvenir hunters.  

Sources:
J.Fry, 2012 The God Tree (Capel Bann, ISBN 978 1 8616 3345 3).
Toby Hindson, 2014 ‘Addressing the claim that the Defynnog yews in Powys may be 5,000 years old’
https://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/Defynnog%20v4f5.pdf (Ancient Yew Group, accessed July 2022).  

David Leighton, RCAHMW, 9 September 2022