Millennium yews
Millennium yews were planted in 2000 as part of a joint scheme between the
Background
The millennium yew project started in November 1996 as a collaboration between the
Cuttings
The initial project was run by David Bellamy, David Shreeve and Libby Simon and it was expected that a few hundred cuttings would be needed.[3][1] The uptake was much bigger than expected and the project soon expanded with a "last-minute" operation to gather the necessary cuttings.[2] Botanist Fergus Kinmonth led a collection team that used climbers to take cuttings at high level from some sixty yews.[1][2] The cuttings, around 6 inches (15 cm) in height, were packed in newspaper and transported in picnic boxes by motorcycle courier to a nursery in Bedford where they were grown on in greenhouses at Mill House Nurseries, Houghton Conquest, by Martin Day.[2][4]
The young plants were distributed throughout 2000 in a series of 40 special services held across the country, many in cathedrals.
As a result of the project some 8,000 yews were planted in 7,000 Church of England parishes.[1][3] Those planted included trees at Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the National Memorial Arboretum.[2][5] Often dignitaries were invited to ceremonially plant the trees and these included bishops, vicars, celebrities and members of the Royal Family.[1]
Impact
Shreeve said in 1996 that the tree would become "symbols of community and signs of creation".[2] Some of the trees flourished, by 2019 at least one was 20 feet (6.1 m) in height. Others fared worse, one of those distributed in the St Paul's service was planted at St George's church, Malaga but died in the drier Spanish climate.[2] ARC estimated that one in twenty of the trees will survive into the fourth millennium.[3] The yews provide a significant collection of trees of known provenance, which will be valuable in research in future years.[1]
ARC describes the project as one of the most successful to come out of the British millennium celebrations.[3] Shreeve states that it helped to raise awareness of environmental projects in the church and led to the creation of more environmental officers in diocese teams. A survey was launched in 2019 for parishes to record the condition of their yew trees as part of the 20th anniversary of the project.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-911188-12-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Davies, Madeline (17 October 2019). "Are the Millennium Yew trees casting their shade?". Church Times. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Yews for the Millennium". Alliance of Religions and Conservation.
- ^ "We Love Yew project to be launched by the Conservation Foundation". HortWeek.
- ISBN 978-0-470-77704-6.