It’s a yew tree, in Runnymede. Only twenty minutes from where we live but we had never known of it before yesterday when we were looking for somewhere to walk.
We did a beautiful circular walk in the spring sunshine, which took in the tree, the old Benedictine abbey ruins, and a short section of the Thames.
The Ankerwycke yew is between 900 and 2,500 years old, depending on which science you use – carbon dating or size – and is tricky because the yew is a tree that constantly reinvents itself, putting out new branches that can root themselves. It is shrouded in mystery and legend – was the Magna Carta signed there? Did Henry the VIII take Anne Boleyn there to woo and seduce her? Just how old is it?
Links:
Wikipedia (basic info)
National Trust (walk details)
Ankerwyke (comprehensive local historian’s website)
We fell in love with the tree which really is a complex living organism that has evolved to show some remarkable different shapes, colours and textures. One passer by told my wife he had kissed it, it was so enchanting.
This is a gallery of our walk showing some different aspects of the Ankerwyke yew.
Eyecatching 