Go to map Back to search

Wheatcommon Lane - Richards Castle

Nearest town: Ludlow

Site type: footpath/road

Access: Public

Church name: No Data

Diocese:

County: Shropshire

Country: England

Grid ref: SO48727054

Lost yew site: Yes

Date visited: 01-Dec-16

Recorded by: Paul Wood

Protection & responsibility: Landowner

Yews recorded at this site: Ancient 4m-5m, Ancient 5m-7m, Notable

Notes: Andrew Morton's book The Trees of Shropshire (1986) notes that 'old yews can be found in the hedgerow bordering the land connecting Richards Castle and Ashford Carbonel'. After searching many lanes I discovered the yews in Wheatcommon Lane. As I took photographs and notes a local gentlemen told me how the lane has much changed in the last thirty years, with yews and old hedgerows disappearing and being replaced. The remaining yews are subject to considerable cutback, presumably for farm traffic and stock control, since few cars use this road. Four of the remaining yews, all growing at the Richards Castle end of the lane, are old and recorded here. It also seemed clear to me that this is another site where yews line a route from church to church. These four grow in the Richards Castle, Herefordshire parish. It is evident that yews 2,3 and 4 have been cut back to just a stump in the past. All yews are buried deep in the hedgerow and measurement was not possible.