How big are the Tettenhall yews?

The largest, nearest the church, measured 693 centimetres round at a foot off the ground in 1999, and the one furthest from the church 681 centimetres at the base. The middle one is a burnt-out hollow shell.

Are any of the yews 2,000 years old?

A visitor claimed so for the great Tettenhall yew in 1899, but it was an opinion, not a measurement, and no modern survey supports it. None of these yews has a reliable age.

Can I visit the yews for free?

Yes. Tettenhall, Codsall and Boningale are open parish churchyards, and Himley Park is free to walk, though Himley Hall itself charges separately.

Where are Himley Hall and Boningale?

Himley Hall is on the Dudley edge, about 8 kilometres south-west of Wolverhampton city centre. Boningale is a Shropshire village about 10 kilometres west, near Albrighton station.

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Ancient Trees in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton's oldest trees are yews on its western and southern edges, and all of them were noticed long before anyone measured them. In Tettenhall three stand in a line beside a church that burned in 1950; they were called venerable in 1804. Codsall's churchyard yews were very ancient to a county historian in 1801. On the wooded hill above Himley Hall, a poet praised an ancient yew in 1791, and at Boningale a lone yew may be the one in a watercolour from that same year. None has a reliable age.

All 4 trees

Tettenhall Yews

European Yew

The parish church of Tettenhall burned in 1950 and was rebuilt, keeping only its tower and porch. The three yews on the north side of the churchyard were already called venerable in 1804, so they are older than nearly everything in the building they stand beside. The Ancient Yew Group has measured and described all three. Nearest the church is the biggest, a male whose trunk splits into four, 693 centimetres round at a foot off the ground in 1999. In 1874 the Gardener's Chronicle reported the bulkiest of the three at 24 feet. The middle one, also male, is a burnt-out hollow shell with ivy climbing into its crown, the hollow closing over above head height. The furthest, a female, is a ring of branches round the stump of the original trunk, 681 centimetres at the base. All three showed fire or smoke damage when they were surveyed in 1999. In 1899 a visiting naturalist pronounced the great yew more than 2,000 years old. That was an opinion, not a measurement, and no modern survey has backed it. Nobody has dated these trees properly, so we leave the age open. If you know of a better estimate, tell us. The churchyard is open and free, beside the village green in Tettenhall, a short bus ride west of Wolverhampton city centre. The ground on the north side is steep.

Codsall Churchyard Yews

European Yew

In 1801 a county historian already called the Codsall yews very ancient and wondered whether they were as old as the church's 13th-century tower. In 1899 another writer went further, praising Codsall's ancient tower and its more ancient yew tree. Nobody since has put a number on them, and we will not either. There are two, both south-east of St Nicholas church. The larger is a female, 589 centimetres round close to the ground when the Ancient Yew Group measured it in 2003. It is a tree of two distinct sides, each thick with small shoots and twiggy branches. The smaller is a male, 399 centimetres round, and it is what is left of something bigger, a sizeable fragment of the shell of a once larger tree. The church's earliest parts are Norman, so a churchyard has stood here for a very long time. Whether the yews go back that far is the open question. The most recent records we have are photographs from 2005. We believe both trees still stand, but if you visit, tell us what you find. The churchyard is open, a short walk from the centre of Codsall, a village on the railway line north-west of Wolverhampton with its own station.

The Himley Hall Yews

European Yew

In 1791 a poet singled out "a very ancient yew of extraordinary size" on the hill beside Himley Hall, standing among old oaks. The hill still has yews among oaks. A survey in 2003 mapped nine of them and noted there may be more. Whether today's largest is the poet's tree, nobody can prove. It measures about 640 centimetres round, 21 feet, and in 1844 a writer recorded a yew here at 20 feet 10 inches. That is close enough to tempt and not enough to settle it. In 1838 the garden writer Loudon described several immense yews at Himley, one celebrated for its widely spreading head. The biggest is largely shell now. More than half its circumference is dead sapwood, and the hollow holds four feet of humus. The others have characters of their own. One female is tall, columnar and red-barked, the branches that once overhung the house since cut. A completely hollow male grows above a badger sett. Their girths step down from 21 feet to 10. Capability Brown extended the park in the 1770s, and it now belongs to Dudley Council. Nobody has put an age on the yews, and we would rather say so than guess. Their records were updated in 2025. The park is free to walk, on the Dudley edge about 8 kilometres south-west of Wolverhampton, with open paths through to Baggeridge Park; the hall charges separately. The yews are on the steep wooded slope above the hall.

Boningale Churchyard Yew

European Yew · 230 years

From the road, the Boningale yew looks solid. Walk round to its north side and it is hollow, the trunk opening into a horseshoe, with the wood thickening heavily along its eastern edge. It is a male tree, 396 centimetres round at the ground, about 13 feet, when the Ancient Yew Group visited in 2012. That is modest beside the big churchyard yews of Tettenhall and Codsall, and it stands alone here, the only yew in the churchyard. Its strongest evidence of age is a picture. A watercolour painted by the Reverend Williams in 1791, now held by Shropshire Archives, shows a yew at the church. The Ancient Yew Group reads it as this tree, which would make it more than 230 years old. Nobody has confirmed that the yew in the painting and the yew on the ground are the same, and nobody has put an estimate on its age, so the painting is a floor rather than a date. If you know more, tell us. St Chad's is a Norman church, built in the 12th century, and the yew grows to its south-east. Our most recent first-hand description of the tree comes from that 2012 visit. We believe it still stands, and if you go, we would like to hear how it looks. The churchyard is open and free, in a Shropshire village about 10 kilometres west of Wolverhampton. Albrighton, on the railway towards Shrewsbury, is the nearest station.

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Frequently asked

How big are the Tettenhall yews?: The largest, nearest the church, measured 693 centimetres round at a foot off the ground in 1999, and the one furthest from the church 681 centimetres at the base. The middle one is a burnt-out hollow shell.
Are any of the yews 2,000 years old?: A visitor claimed so for the great Tettenhall yew in 1899, but it was an opinion, not a measurement, and no modern survey supports it. None of these yews has a reliable age.
Can I visit the yews for free?: Yes. Tettenhall, Codsall and Boningale are open parish churchyards, and Himley Park is free to walk, though Himley Hall itself charges separately.
Where are Himley Hall and Boningale?: Himley Hall is on the Dudley edge, about 8 kilometres south-west of Wolverhampton city centre. Boningale is a Shropshire village about 10 kilometres west, near Albrighton station.
Species on this list: Every European Yew on the site
More like this: One of these trees also appears in The Oldest Tree in Every City We Map.
Ancient trees in nearby cities: Cannock Chase · Stratford-upon-Avon · Astbury · Overton-on-Dee · Discoed · Chirk · Farndon · Goostrey · Every city on the map

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