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Brynhynae

Nearest town: Builth Wells

Site type: garden

Access: Private

Church name:

Diocese:

County: Powys

Country: Wales

Grid ref: SO0121846988

Lost yew site: No

Date visited: 20/04/2024

Recorded by: Tim Hills

Protection & responsibility: Owner

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 5m-7m

Notes: A house has been here since at least 1842, appearing on a tithe map. The track alongside the yew is a farm track, which goes into a wood and then peters out in a field. The track above the house goes on to Epynt and eventually to the Drover's Arms, originally Tyr y Mynydd, purchased by the Ministry of Defence in the 1940s. Children from there used to walk to Maesmynis school - not easy in the winter! There is a local memory that a mother from Tyr y Mynydd marked the path with broken china in places to make it easier for them, so it was called 'the china path'. The most likely explanation for this ancient tree's presence would seem to be as a marker yew. Its position would make it visible from the hillsides for miles around. There are two further significant ancient yews in the immediate area, in the churchyard near Maesmynis and at Llangynog-Pwll-du. Here the church building has long gone, but there are earthworks nearby that testify to a former settlement in this area. Brynhynae is a private location and can only be visited by prior arrangement with the owners.