Defynnog Yew

Taxus baccata · Brecon, Powys, Wales · SN 925 279

Four ancient yews stand in St Cynog's churchyard in the Brecon Beacons. The largest — a female with a single male branch, mirror of Fortingall — has been claimed as 5,000 years old. An investigation has urged caution, but the tree is unquestionably ancient and the llan is older than the stone church.

Treat millennial claims as folklore-adjacent until a better method exists. The churchyard cluster itself is the story: a planted or conserved grove around an early medieval mother church.