4« 

 CAPEL-Y-FFIN, ITS YEW TREES, AND ITS CnORCH. 



The yew trees at Capel-y flBn are more remarkable for their mode of 

 growth and apparent age than for their large size. They are, for the most 

 part, tall upright trees with a central stem or stems. They are long past 

 their prime, and present an appearance, at once rugged, grim and hoary. 

 They are situated on the south side of the churchyard, and are planted in a 

 semicircle. There are seven trees, two on the left, and five on the right of the 

 entrance gate, and it almost seems as if one or two trees had been removed 

 specially for the entrance. The circumference of the trees is as follows. On the 

 left, as you enter, the first tree — 



(1)— measures 13ft. lOin., at 5ft. from the ground, 

 and the next — 



(2) „ 14ft. 2in. ditto ditto. 



The finest and tallest trees are to the right of the entrance gate, and, 

 beginning next to it, they measure in circumference — 



(3)— 14ft. 6in. at 1ft. from the ground. Numerous small boughs prevent 

 its being taken higher. 



(4) — 16ft. 2in. at 5ft. from the ground. 



(5)-13ft. 6in. ditto ditto. 



(6)— 18ft. 6in. ditto ditto. 

 This tree is a very remarkable one. It is split into three boles — though all are 

 united together when the measure is taken — one bole is hollow and completely 

 filled by a large mountain ash of at least a hundred years growth. The two other 

 boles are solid and shoot up from twenty to thirty feet before separating into 

 branches, and the last tree 



(7)— measures 11 ft. 8 in. at 5 ft. from the ground. 



The position of these trees at the junction of three vallies ; the fact of 

 their being planted in a semicircle ; their very great ages ; together with the 

 absence of any indication of age about the church itself; leads to the inference 

 that the trees existed long before the erection of the church. Was this a spot 

 sacred in ancient British times ? "Were these trees planted as a consecrated grove 

 for Pagan worship ? Did the early Christian missionaries avail themselves of a 

 place already sacred in the estimation of the people on which to preach to them ? 

 "Was the good Bishop buried here who, tradition states, fell over the rocks close 

 by (The Taren yr Esgob) when escaping from his enemies, and broke his neck ?— 

 are questions more easily asked than answered. 



The name of the church " Capel-y-ffin "—the " Chapel of the Boundary " 

 — it is said bears out the inference of its having long been a place of note 

 before the church was built. The conclusion of the word "ffin" being of very 

 ancient use for "a boundary"— in this instance probably meaning the boundary 

 between England and Wales, and not the boundary between the three coun- 

 ties of Brecon, Hereford, and Monmouth, as some suppose, and which spot is a 

 mile off on the top of a neighbouring hill j whilst the use of the word "Capel," 



