GREAT BRITISH TREES:
One of the 50 trees included in The Tree Council’s book Great British Trees, published in 2002.
Think another remarkable tree deserves recognition? Submit your own remarkable tree to our map for others to learn about and enjoy.
Type of tree:
Yew
Location:
Seathwaite
Keswick
CA12 5XJ
The Borrowdale Yew
Nestling under the Cumbrian fells, this ancient yew is the largest survivor of the yews (Taxus baccata) which Wordsworth celebrated in his 1803 poem, Yew Trees, as “those fraternal Four of Borrowdale.”
“But worthier still of note
Are those fraternal Four of Borrowdale,
Joined in one solemn and capacious grove
Huge trunks! and each particular trunk a growth
Of intertwisted fibres serpentine
Up-coiling, and inveterately convolved”
The three surviving trees, and the remains of the fourth, are now owned by the National Trust. This female tree is hollow, with enough space in its trunk for four people to squeeze inside. Over the years, unfortunately, people have lit fires in the hollow interior, but luckily the tree still thrives and hopefully will continue to do so for many more centuries.
© Copyright Philip Halling and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.