Derwen

In 1984 Reg Wheeler drew a plan of the churchyard and notes two yews. For the most westerly of the pair he recorded a girth of 435cm (14′ 3”) at 110cm. He added this note: ‘difficult to measure accurately over epicormic growth, ivy and other vegetation preventing access to the bole’. When I visited in 2004 (without this information) I noted a male yew growing just above a drop of 6′ to the road below. It was impossible to get close to the bole through thick elder and low horizontal branches. My estimated girth was a modest ‘between 10′ and 12′.
The smaller yew, more easterly of the pair, was recorded by Reg Wheeler as 1984 as male, with a girth of 312cm (10′ 3”) at the ground. In 2004 my notes have recorded a female yew with an estimated girth of 8’/10’.
The trees were also noted by the Clwyd/Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) as ‘2 yews on the south, neither of any size’. The google earth images show the larger yew first, the smaller yew second.