[MR] BBC: Ancient Yew is "Tree of the Year"

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the BBC reports that a 500-year-old yew tree has been voted the
Woodland Trust "Tree of the Year" for Britain.

The magnificent tree is located at Farnam, Surrey. It deserves the honor
just for its amazing tangle of exposed roots.

You can see the yew tree, and some spectacular runner-ups at
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-63510326 .

So what, you might ask, does this tree have to do with our SCA world? Well,
it is growing on the grounds of the ruined Waverley Abbey, the first
Cistercian house to be established in England some 900 years ago. The abbey
was founded in 1128, and was the first of 89 Cistercian Abbeys to be
planted in England, Scotland and Wales (plus four modern Trappist houses, a
reformed Cistercian order). Although prosperity seems to have eluded
Waverley Abbey, Cistercian houses were often immense churches, and were
among the wealthiest foundations in the medieval world.

Like all the abbeys and monastic churches, Waverley Abbey was "supressed"
on the orders of Henry VIII in 1536. Although much of the abbey was
demolished for its stone, substantial buildings remain. It is now managed
by English Heritage, and is open to the public.

More about Waverley Abbey is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverley_Abbey
.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🕉