Hambledon - Surrey

December 1998 – Tim Hills: A large hollow tree with a huge leading branch rising centrally above the hollow. Branches dip to the ground among the graves. Girth at the ground was 31′ 4”.
October 2007 – Ian Robert Brown: A very large male tree, hollow inside with a small entrance gradually closing as new wood is laid down. New sapwood almost seems to be flowing through holes in the trunk when observed from the inside of the tree. It looks in excellent health. May 2013 – Peter Norton: The yew grows close to the southeast corner of the church. It is totally hollow as seen from the large cavity on the southwest side of the tree. There is a break of crown at around 5′ from which many thick branches emerge. With the tape slightly undulating (photo 4) a girth of 31′ 10” was recorded at about 6” from the top of the sloping ground. Both tree girths have increased by 6” in 15 years.
October 2019 – Hugo Egleston: Girth was 32′ 8” using a nail on the bole which has presumably been used for earlier measurements. The increase in girth, even allowing for error, seems very rapid for a huge old tree, let alone a yew. At about 7′ above the ground one of several massive horizontal boughs grows towards the church. From this, suspended in the air well away from the main trunk, grow two fine upright boles, which must add considerably to the stress on the buttress supporting the bough and may account for some of the rapid increase in girth as the buttress swells to take this stress. The tree is hollow, but the walls are thick and sturdy. The gap in the bole may have been caused by a similar bough falling away. Its bole is distinctly oval in section making the unblemished side of this superb tree appear even more vast when viewed from the east end of the church.