Thornton Steward

A rare old yew in this part of England. It has a bleached hollow outer shell containing what appears to be an internal stem or at least live tissue which is supporting the crown. There is a possibility that the tree was formerly even larger, the height has certainly been reduced by branch/stem failure.
Visited by Graham Wilkinson on 24/5/1996 and 31/1/1997, he recorded a male yew with girths of 14′ (427cm) at 4′ and 15′ 5″ (470cm) at 4′. He described a splendid, windswept old tree, with marked and extensive hollowing to its single trunk, which gives the impression of having shrunk a little due to same. It stands fenced off from the rest of the field to discourage cattle. The Church of St. Oswald, which is unrelated to the yew, stands half a mile east. It is Norman with Anglo-Saxon parts, giving an indication of the early founding of the village.