312 



THE YEW. 



extend over a space of about seventy-five feet in 

 diameter ; the height of the tree is about twenty- 

 one feet. A party of two hundred have often 

 dined under this tree."* 



The Great Yew at Ankerwyke, near Staines, 

 which is described and figured by Strutt, is sup- 

 posed to have fiourished upwards of a thousand 

 years. It measures twenty- seven feet eight inches 

 in circumference at three feet from the ground ; 

 at eight feet, thirty-two feet five inches. Imme- 

 diately above the latter height, there are five prin- 

 cipal branches, each of which is upwards of five 

 feet in circumference. Above these branches, 

 the trunk measures twenty feet eight inches. Its 

 height is forty-nine feet six inches, and the dia- 

 meter of its shade sixty-nine feet. It is noted 

 not only for its antiquity and immense size, but 

 as the place of conference of the barons who com- 

 pelled King John to sign Magna Charta at Run- 

 nymede, in its immediate vicinity. Tradition 

 says also, that it was the favourite meeting-place 

 of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn. 



The Yew-trees at Fountain's Abbey are said to 

 have afforded shelter to the monks while their 

 Abbey was being built in 1132. They were 

 formerly seven in number ; but the largest was 

 blown down about the middle of the last century. 

 They are of an extraordinary size ; the trunk 

 of one of them is twenty-six feet six inches in 

 circumference, at the height of three feet from 

 the ground, and they stand so near each other 

 as to form a cover almost equal to a thatched 

 roof. They are described by Strutt as being 

 highly picturesque. 



* " Gardeners' Chronicle." 



