Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/314

 248 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. The suggestion was made that the yew tree has probably outlasted the sacred edifice in spite of the many occasions on which the original Norman church, probably built by William de Falaise in the nth century, has been re-built and restored. The yew tree, which stands westward of the ruined tower, was found to measure 25 feet in circumference at about 3 feet from the ground, but as this included small lateral outgrowth the circumference of the bole or com- bination of boles is probably about 23 feet. This dimension indicates considerable age, and the query was advanced that if the planting of yew trees in churchyards was not, at the period of the Conquest, a Norman custom, is it not possible that the ancient yew trees, to be found in the precincts of early churches all over our country, were planted by the Anglo-Saxon settlers, or even date from pre-Christian days ? Dartington was given to the Saxon lady Beornwyn in 833, in exchange for her share of her father's estate in West Aimer, Dorsetshire, and is perhaps the earliest mention in history of a manor in Devonshire. Little information seems to have been collected concerning the yew trees of Devon. In 1888, a correspondent enquired in Notes and Gleanings the age of a yew tree then standing at the side of the tower of Heavitree Church, apparently without result. Mr. John Lowe in his work on the Yew Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (Macmillan, 1897), gives a list of all trees having a girth of 10 feet and upwards. Under Cornwall none appears. Under Devon only three, of which the follow- ing particulars are given : — Girth at Girth at Length tt„-. f Diameter i?^.„,,i,o ground. 3 feet. of bole. Height. ^^ un^brage. Remarks. Manaton ... 13 ... 40 70 1892 (LL.) Stoke Gabriel 15 5 6.10 40 83 i836(London) St. John in the A compound Wilderness '" -'^ "* tree. From the omission of the trees at Dartington and Mamhead and the above mentioned specimen at Heavitree, this list is obviously incomplete. Charles VIL, of France [1422-1461] , ordered yew trees to be planted in all the churchyards of Normandy for providing wood for cross-bows. A similar edict for a general planting of these trees was issued in this