This yew grows out of the ruins of a medieval Cistercian abbey, and its roots arch above the ground before diving back in among the monks' old foundations. Waverley Abbey was founded in 1128 and dissolved in 1536. The yew came after. How long after is the honest question. The European Tree of the Year entry calls it roughly 500 years old, but most accounts have it taking root once the abbey was abandoned, which makes five centuries the outer edge of what anyone can support rather than a floor. It may be younger than it looks. A multi-stemmed yew with a girth of 6.78 metres, spreading over broken stonework, looks older than almost anything. What it has seen is the long second life of a ruin, the abbey reduced to stonework while the yew spread across it. The trunk now carries holes and decay, and those make it a home for wildlife. In 2022 it won the Woodland Trust's UK Tree of the Year, and in 2023 it went on to the European contest, placing seventh with 9,413 votes. English Heritage looks after the site and lets anyone in during daylight without a ticket. The walk from the car park crosses a field with a kissing gate and, often, cattle.
Waverley Abbey ruins, off B3001 near Tilford, Farnham, Surrey, England You can recognise it by the many stems and the roots arching above the ground, growing over the abbey's broken stonework. It stands among the Waverley Abbey ruins, a yew 6.78 metres round.
Free. English Heritage manages Waverley Abbey and admits visitors at any reasonable time during daylight hours, no entrance fee. A roughly 350m walk across a field (uneven ground, a kissing gate, and grazing cattle) leads to the ruins where the yew stands; small on-site car park.
About a 5 minute walk from the on-site car park; Farnham railway station is roughly 3km away, with the abbey otherwise reached by car or bus plus a short walk.