Page images
PDF
EPUB

tinuation or extension of some establishment of an earlier date. It is by no means impossible that the latter was the case, and that a church, perhaps of the very simplest and most primitive description, may have existed on this spot from the time of the first introduction of Christianity in Britain.

If there is any foundation for the belief that the orientation of a church was towards the position occupied by the sun on the day dedicated to its patron saint, then our church would be inclined some twenty degrees too far to the north for St. Tysilio's day (8th November), and would rather point to some saint's day in April. This is, of course, a mere surmise; the position of the building may have been determined by some local circumstance, such as the foundations of an older edifice, or the positions of forest trees existing at the time.

One circumstance would, however, lead us to infer that the spot had from the very earliest times been dedicated to a religious use; and that is the form of the churchyard. Like that of many very old churchyards, the form of the enclosure is almost round; and we are led to speculate upon the probability that the places now occupied by Christian churches and Christian burial-grounds were formerly taken by Druidical circles, and the heathen rites of the religion of the ancient Britons1. On the introduction of Christianity and suppression of the Druidical worship, the first churches would probably occupy the spots which had been in possession of the priests of the ancient religion; their circular groves and enclosures would be adopted as the most convenient sites for the churches and burial-grounds of the converts to Christianity. And we find that, some centuries later on, when St. Augustine was sent by Gregory the Great (A.D. 596),

1 A more probable reason is supplied by the regulations laid down in the Laws of Hywel Dda for the corphlan and the mynwent.-ED.

to preach Christianity among the Angles, he was specially enjoined not to destroy the heathen temples, but to remove the idols, to erect altars, and to convert the buildings into Christian churches.

Before the introduction of Christianity, the ancient Britons planted groves of yew around the temples where they were accustomed to perform their idolatrous rites', and it is probable that their are yews still in existence which were venerable trees at that time. It is supposed that churches were often built in yew groves, or near yew plantations, rather than that the trees were planted in the surrounding burialgrounds after the churches were built.

The yew is known to be slow of growth, and to attain a very great age. Dr. Ramage calculates the age of a tree in Guilsfield churchyard at 350 to 400 years, and one at Buttington at 1,100 years. A tree at Llanerfyl is said to be more than forty-three feet in circumference. It is, however, impossible to determine the age of a yew with any very great degree of accuracy, as after it has attained a certain size the yearly increase in growth is scarcely appreciable.

The yew trees now in our churchyard are apparently not of any very great age. They are all finely grown trees some are about 10 ft. in girth, and may still attain greater dimensions, as they are mostly fresh and vigorous, and show no signs of decay.

Yew branches were formerly carried in procession on Palm Sunday, and were also used for church decoration. The popular opinion is that yews were planted in churchyards to afford a supply of wood for making bows, at one time the dreaded national weapon of England, as the archers on the bloody fields of Crécy and Agincourt could bear witness. Statutes were passed forbidding the exportation of yew timber, and merchant ships from Venice were obliged to import

1 Bowman, Magazine of Natural History.
2 Montgomeryshire Collections, iv, 444.

ONS.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

ten bow staves for every butt of wine which they brought to England. The most highly-prized bows were, however, made of foreign yew, and were thought much superior to those made from native wood. In the reign of Edward IV, an Act was passed ordering every Englishman in Ireland to have a bow of his own height; and the same king is said to have enacted that yew trees should be planted in all churchyards.

Archery practice was regularly carried on in the churchyards after Sunday service, and in many old churches the marks made by sharpening the arrows may still be seen on the door-jambs.

As yew trees were cut down for making bows or for other purposes, or were removed by decay, they would be replaced by planting young trees; in our church documents we find that yews were planted in 1717 and 1719, and the expense charged to the parish.

One good reason for confining the cultivation of yew trees to churchyards was that the walls or railings would prevent horses and cattle from entering the enclosure and feeding on the deadly leaves of the

trees.

The old parish church which was taken down in 1867 had, no doubt, withstood the storms of many centuries, and had, in its time, undergone many alterations and additions. The walls were of rough local stone, and it was supposed that parts of them dated from pre-Norman times. A fragment of a Norman capital, which was found in a wall of the church, and part of what appears to have been a pedestalled stoup, are still preserved in the vestry.

The church was a quaint and primitive building, divided into three portions, of different heights and probably of different dates, with a simple wooden porch at the entrance on the south side. The square massive tower at the west end was a comparatively modern structure, having been erected in 1833, when the steeple and spire were removed from the western divi

C

« PreviousContinue »