188 " A FEW NOTCHES ON OLD TREES." 



the Abbey. This was about a.d. 1132, so that at that time 

 the trees must have attained to considerable growth. 



The story runs thus : " There stood a hirge elm in the 

 middle of the vale in which the Abbey was to be erected, 

 and to this elm straw and thatch were attached, and under 

 this temporary house the monks lay, ate, and prayed ; the 

 bishop, for a time, supplying them with bread, and the 

 rivulet (the Skell), to drink. Part of the day some spent in 

 making wattles to erect a little oratory, whilst others 

 cleared some ground to make a little garden. But it is 

 supposed they soon changed the shelter of the elm for that 

 of the seven yew trees, growing on the declivity of the hill 

 on the south side of the Abbey." In 1757 Dr. Burton 

 wrote this account, and at that time all the seven, except the 

 largest, were then standing, which, he says, had been blown 

 down a few years before. Since then others have disap- 

 peared, having succumbed to gales and time, and now there 

 is but one tree left. 



In the Visitors' Handbook, published by G. Parker in 

 1888, it is stated : " On the left, near the present boundary 

 wall, there stands, in great decrepitude, a living antiquity, a 

 very large yew tree, said to have been coeval with, if not 

 actually one of, the group of traditional yew trees utilized 

 for a dwelling by the monks, who first tenanted the valley. 

 At about 6 feet from the ground this tree measures 9 yards 

 in circumference. It has survived all the stirring scenes 

 enacted around it during more than a thousand years." 



Another historical yew is at Ankerwyke, near Staines. It 

 is said that Henry VIII. occasionally met Anne Boleyn 

 under its shade. The girth of this tree at 3 ft. from the 

 ground is about 28 ft., and at 8 ft. high it is 32 ft. 5 in., 

 this increased bulk being caused by the stem bulging out 

 before five principal branches go off in lateral directions. 



