When the Diocese of Bath and Wells listed its ancient yews in 2013, Chilcompton had exactly one, and this is it. It stands south-west of the church of St John the Baptist, on the northern edge of a village near Midsomer Norton. Tim Hills measured it at 780 centimetres at the root crown, where the trunk meets the roots. That is big enough for the Ancient Yew Group's top class, seven metres and over, the band they call ancient. As with any age read from a tape, it is an estimate from size and not a dating. We should be plain about one thing. The most recent photograph we know of dates from 2006, and we have found no later record. We cannot promise you what you will find. If you visit, a photograph would settle it for everyone who comes after you. Buses run to the village from Midsomer Norton and Bath, so this is an ancient yew you can reach without a car, which in rural Somerset is not a given.
From people who stood here
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Getting there
St John the Baptist Church, Chilcompton, Somerset
You can recognise it as the big yew south-west of the church of St John the Baptist, about 7.8 metres round at its base.
Village near Midsomer Norton, Somerset; bus from Midsomer Norton and Bath (check).
In fruit
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.