222 Yew - Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



row. These have probably been planted at the 

 same time as the rest of the avenue. One of them 

 has grown into a noble tree, though it is clear that 

 the leading stem was lost very early. Eight large 

 limbs spring from near the ground, at which point 

 the girth is 1 2 feet 6 inches. This, at an estimate 

 of one foot in seventy-five years, would give three 

 hundred years as the age of the tree, whereas it is 

 clearly only two hundred. 



Hurstmonceaux. A yew-tree in Hurstmonceaux 

 Churchyard illustrates in a more striking degree 

 than any which I have seen, the rapid growth in 

 girth which takes place when the trunk is covered 

 with young spray. The two main stems have been 

 long killed through being broken by storm. Below 

 their point of bifurcation the trunk measures over 



3 feet in diameter. Four feet below this several large 

 branches are given off from the main trunk, which 

 here measures about 16 feet in circumference. At 



4 to 5 feet from the ground the trunk is completely 

 surrounded by dense young growth, which has 

 caused an enlargement of the trunk to the extent 

 of 30 feet of girth. It is, as in all such cases, 

 somewhat difficult to measure accurately, but with 

 great care I managed to pass a thread round the 

 tree close to the wood. If we allow an error of a 

 foot, which is, I should say, ample, it appears that 

 the trunk from which the young wood springs 

 surpasses in girth that above 5 feet by at least 



