Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1900 — Venerable British Trees. [ARTICLE]

Venerable British Trees.

Yews are the most enduring trees of Britain: and no doubt can exist that there are individuals of the species in the country as old as the introduction of Christianity, ami, there is every reason to Iwlieve, a great deal older. It Is th# opinion of many leading writers on this subject, that of all European trees the yew is that which attains the greatest age. That of Brabourne in Kent is, according to De Caudolle, 3,000 years old. and a yew tree at Hedsor, Bucks, is supposed to be even more venerable. That at Fortingal, In Perthshire, was over 2,500 years old, and measured 36% feet in circumference. That of Darley Churchyard, Derbyshire, about 2,000 years. The yew grove of Xorbufy Park, Surrey, was standing in the time of the Druids. Those of Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, are aged at least 1,200 years. That at Aukerwyke House, Staines, was noted when Magna Charta was signed in 1215, and was the trystingplace for Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn. Oaks also attain a great age. Witness Damorey’s Oak, Dorset, which was said to be 200 years old when blown down in 1703; Cowthorpe Oak, Wetherby, according to Prof. Burnett, 1,600 years old; and William the Conqueror’s Oak, Windsor Forest, at least 1,200 years old.