Yew Tree of Selattyn

This old yew tree in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in the quiet Shropshire village of Selattyn sits close to the south porch. A sample was taken to allow the counting of its trunk’s rings, and it appears to date to the year 1270. Although the site was used for worship five hundred years before the tree was planted, and some of the current building’s age is only a little younger, the tree of Selattyn is a remarkable feature. Just think how many storms it has withstood, how many changes to church and state have occurred while it merely stood there, swaying in the breeze. Consider the number of children who climbed its boughs over the centuries, and how many of them now lie buried among its roots. Though it will have had many hundreds of young lovers meet by its trunk after service or after dark, it has essentially witnessed eight centuries of pain and grief, and, one day, this ancient yew shall itself die. Yet another, greater tree is going to return, not to observe grief and pain, but joy and vitality:

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations…blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:2, 14

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