Overton Yews

Overton's churchyard yews are one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, and by the Ancient Yew Group's account only one of them is of great age. The wonder comes from an anonymous rhyme, probably written by an English visitor in the late 18th or early 19th century, which sets the Overton yew trees beside Snowdon, Pistyll Rhaeadr and Llangollen bridge. It means the ring of yews round the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, not one tree. People have counted them ever since. Edward Jones found 25 in 1802, John Lowe 22 in 1896, the Ancient Yew Group 23 in 1999. Queen Elizabeth II planted another in 1992. Most are perimeter trees of no great size. The old one is different. It is a male yew north-west of the church, hollow and broken into fragments, held together by yew props and clamps, with railings put round it in 2004. Measured round three of its fragments it came to 15 feet 8 inches in 1999. That is not a large girth for an ancient yew. It is a very broken one. Wikipedia gives the oldest tree here 1,500 to 2,000 years, and the same range turns up in a photo caption of 2007. The Ancient Yew Group gives no age, and neither figure rests on a measurement, so read it as a claim. A photograph from March 2025 shows the propped tree standing. The churchyard is a registered historic park and garden, in the middle of the village.