There are woodlands solely of yew, but it is also found as an understorey species in many woods, especially with beech or ash. It flourishes well in the south & in Wales, with one of the finest examples of a yew woodland in Europe found near Lavant in Sussex, receiving nature reserve status in 1952. There are thought to be some 40 yews in the UK each measuring a girth of 30 feet or more, which puts them approximately at 2000 years old. They are by no means the oldest. The most famous of which is the Fortingall yew in Perthshire. The heart wood has long since rotted out, leaving several outer stems to continue to grow, a survival strategy by the tree to remain flexible through bad storms. This makes aging trees by counting their growth rings (dendrochronology) impossible and ageing ancient yew trees a challenge. Old records and the diameter of existing stems from the original tree enable estimates of its age between 3-5000 years old. This is thought to be the oldest living thing in Britain. The Celtic festival Beltane is thought to have the first procession torch lit from a fire within its centre.
Some ancient yews form circular groves where Celtic druids performed their sacred rites of their pagan beliefs, wedded to nature and the supernatural in the belief of more than one God and that Gods exist in, and are the same as, all things, animals, and people within the universe. There are some 25 recorded yew circles remaining in Britain with some estimated to be 1500 years old.
Evidence of the importance of yew and its place in Celtic culture are a hidden mystery. The Celts recorded little, preferring to pass on the teachings of their society orally. What we know of the Celts are from the markings left behind on stone, that is discovered from within the earth, with only fragments of their text surviving. The study of language, and modern new science techniques like carbon dating and DNA profiling leading to revaluation of old evidence with exciting results. We can turn to other civilisations which left a record of their encounter of them in the study of the classics of the Greeks and Romans, one artistic account of the Groves is recorded by a Roman poet Lucan ‘Marcus Annaeus Lucanus’ 39AD Spain - 65AD Rome.
A grove there was untouched by men’s hands from ancient times,
whose interlacing boughs enclosed a space of darkness and cold shade,
Gods were worshipped there with savage rites,
the altars were heaped with hideous offerings,
and every tree was sprinkled with gore,
On those boughs . . . birds feared to perch,
in those coverts wild beasts would not lie down,
no wind ever bore down upon that world,
the trees, even when they spread their leaves felt no breeze, but rustled of themselves.
This account has the advantage of living on the same timeline of these rites performed, but at the expense of bias of one’s own culture, gross ignorance of Celtic beliefs and artistic licence leading to exaggeration. What we can take is that the Celts took advantage of the yew, creating a sacred place to perform their most sacred rites, governed by their own calendar, the grove of evergreen foliage providing shelter throughout the year to do this, whatever the weather.
This idea of meeting under yew on a given calendar dates continues into modern times, for example, where the New Year was welcomed in under the churchyard yew tree in Berkhamsted & Totteridge, both in Hertfordshire.
Yews association with churchyards came about as Britannia converted from Paganism to Christianity. The events which unfolded to this end were many and by far from smooth sailing. Essentially a rebranding exercise by reinterpreting pagan held beliefs of many gods for all things and aligning it to one god in all things, bringing with it a wave of modernity to pagan life. This saw the transition from rams’ skulls and entrails on the altar to candles and a cross.
Some of these key examples of this transition were, Pagan sanctuaries were retained and transformed into Christian alters, Celts sacred sources of water became places of the holy water and its use in baptism, ancient Pagan festivals were rebranded giving a similar significance into the Christian religion.
- February
- Imbolc - Holy day of Brigid, Goddess of fire, (Fires lit) healing and fertility for food till harvest.
- Candlemas, (candles lit) Purification of Mary.
- March
- Spring equinox (equal day & Night) for Celts in March celebrates the renewal of life on Earth that comes with the Spring after the winter months.
- This became easter and the resurrection of Christ.
- April / May
- Beltane - Celebrates of the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year.
- Christian influence saw a move away from sacrifices to the gods to offerings to nature spirits or fairies, with the maypole dancing (Pagan Fertility ritual) retained.
- June
- Summer Solstice - (Longest Day) June the Goddess took over the earth from the horned God at the beginning of spring and she is now at the height of her power and fertility. For some Pagans the Summer Solstice marks the marriage of the God and Goddess and see their union as the force that creates the harvest's fruits.
- Christians placed the feast of St John the Baptist towards the end of June.
- August
- Lughnasadh (Lammas) first day of the harvest.
- Christian Harvest Festival (September).
- September
- Autumn Equinox - (equal day & Night) September - It is also a time to recognise that the balance of the year has changed, the wheel has turned, and summer is now over.
- Michaelmas, or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, which takes place Sept. 29 associated with encouraging protection during these dark months. Said to of come later in 4thC.
- October
- Samhain - Veils between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest, when the spirits of the dead could most readily mingle with the living once again.
- Christians, they celebrated it as All Hallows' Eve, (Hallowe’en), followed by All Saints Day, to remember all saints and martyrs, known and unknown, throughout Christian history. It is widely accepted that the early church missionaries chose to hold a festival at this time of year to absorb existing native Pagan practices into Christianity, thereby smoothing the conversion process.
- 21 Dec
- Winter Solstice (Shortest day) 21 Dec (Yule) seen as the birth of new year in Celtic eyes as the days (Daylight) slowly grew longer & longer.
- Christmas and the birth of Christ. (If we accept his existence) No one knows when Christ was born, He was a Jewish man and birthdays are not celebrated, the 25th December was chosen because it helped sell this new faith and it fitted nicely into the pagan calendar.
The Celts brought into it and decided to redecorate, churches appeared on their old Pagan sites and yew trees stayed in place and used to reinforce the Christian message, speaking of the white sapwood and red heartwood representing the body and blood of Christ, the yews yearlong foliage and immense lifespan becoming a symbol of immortality, represented in the use of its foliage in Christian churches on Palm Sunday.
Practical aspects of the tree include providing a good windbreak, (as they did in the pagan groves) helping to protect the church building from storms. Some thoughts also suggest that retaining the yew also discouraged livestock being brought to the church as it is harmful to cattle and horses, although sheep, goats, and deer all happily browse the tree.