One of the oldest trees in the world, in Conwy

The Llangernyw Yew 

This famous tree is estimated to be around 4,000 - 5,000 years old and is one of the 50 Great British Trees. It grows in the churchyard of St Digain's Church in Llangernyw, Conwy, North Wales.

The churchyard in which the tree stands

The church is thought to have been founded in the thirteenth century. Many people must have sheltered beneath the yew tree from the rain over the centuries; or perhaps children played in the shade of the branches. Sitting under the tree, which provides seating in the curve of its trunk, beneath its green foliage, thinking of who might have sat there in the past, is like rubbing shoulders with ghosts.

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Stone lychgate of 1745, with wrought iron gates, forms the entrance to the churchyard. Slate-topped benches line the two sides.

View across the River Elwy from the churchyard to a tumbledown barn