2o6 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



which swell the trunk beyond its natural size ; but 

 the mean of the three other dimensions gives a 

 circumference of 28 feet 4 inches and a diameter 

 of 9*5 inches. The mean diameter of the tree is 

 therefore 1356 lines, which, according to De Can- 

 dolle's method of calculating the age of trees, would 

 also be the number of its years.' Mr. Bowman, 

 however, calculated its age, by his own method, 

 to be 2006 years. 



At this period the tree divided into * two nearly 

 upright boughs, which reach a height of about 

 55 feet.' 



There must have been some damage done to 

 the tree by storms not very long before this 

 account was written, for in. 1853 it was stated by 

 a person residing close to the churchyard, that 

 thirty or forty years ago the branches extended 

 to the churchyard wall, so that boys could get into 

 them from the top of the wall and completely 

 cross the churchyard on to the roof of the church 

 on the opposite side without descending to the 

 ground. 1 



The tree was measured again in 1879 at Sir 

 Robert Christison's request by Mr. Smith of 

 Darley Dale, who repeated the measurement for 

 me in 1889, as, with Sir R. Christison, I found the 

 figures very perplexing. The result of the various 

 measurements is given in a tabular form, as it 



1 Forest and Forest Trees, Ingram and Co., 1853. 



