Having been interested in the ancient yew trees in Wales for many years I was given the wonderful opportunity to create an exhibition for MOMA Machynllech in September 2016.

I had agreed earlier to contribute to a joint show of The Sacred Yew at the Taliesin Art Centre, University of Wales, Swansea and decided it would be excellent to spend the year visiting yews and researching their many locations in Wales.

There was also an additional opportunity to exhibit at Oriel CRIC in Crickhowell near Abergavenny, a wonderful part of the country ‘the sugar loaf’ mountain which was a favourite walking area of mine and also an area rich in very old and venerable yews.

The yew shown here is the Defynnog Yew which lies in the churchyard of St. Cynog in the village of Defynnog near Sennybridge.  The age of this tree is reputedly 5000 plus years.  The landscape in which it stands is quite spectacular with a great sweep of a view towards the wild moorland looking south.

The fact that the church holds a font with deeply engraved runic writing, being the only example of its kind in wales is quite remarkable. The romans were most assuredly here with a 5th century Roman tombstone sited in the porch displaying Ogham script to the edge.

 


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