Close Walks - Midhurst

In The Eternal Yew (1992) Trevor Baxter wrote “The Yews in the avenue in Close Walk Woods are remarkable for their height; the tallest are around 80 feet. Recent storms have caused some damage, but they remain the tallest avenue in Europe. The yews at Close Walks have clean trunks up to 24 feet with no large branches. Mr Maurice Smith of Close Walk outlined the history of the woods and their link with Cowdray. Their longevity and importance is reflected in past events which include the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Yew avenues in 1591 whilst attending a banquet given by Viscount Montague. Unfortunately there is no doubt that the maintenance and care of the wood during the 20th centuy is noticeably less than in the 16th century’. In 2014 local resident Alan Smith, speaking to a project entitled Midhurst in Living Memory, is looking at photo 1, dated circa 1900:’Just sitting here looking at some photographs of old Midhurst. One I’m looking at at the moment is The Close Walks. The old avenue down through the Close Walks from Selham Road down to the Gas Works basically – before it was turned into a building site. Shows a beautiful selection of tall yew trees, one of which I believe is the tallest yew tree in the country which is noted in the Guinness Book of Records.” Photo 2 shows the yew avenue as recently as 1988. Photos 3 and 4 from 2014 show what might be all that is left of this yew feature, a couple of yews at the entrance to a new housing estate at Closewalks.