A 26-year-old Millennium Yew living in an Illogan churchyard escaped injury during the recent winter storms.

Andrew and Pamela Tompsett, from the village near Redruth, reported other species of trees were not so fortunate when the bad weather swept through – with 12 fallen and others damaged.

Millenium Yews hold special sentiment as they were grown from cuttings taken from trees which lived at the time of Christ.

A report from Andrew and Pamela read: “The large group of Irish Yews, an historic feature of the churchyard, escaped injury including the one English Yew planted to mark the Millennium and now 26 years old.”

A  large multi-stemmed Sweet Chestnut was ‘shattered’ and a Lime tree also damaged. Image shows a fallen tree.The report stated falling trees and branches ‘missed many gravestones by inches although still broke two which, no doubt, will be a sadness to the families’.

The report concluded: “Fortunately nobody was hurt and the church building itself was not damaged.

“Wildlife will carry on as usual and this was demonstrated by the bird count a few days later which recorded 25 different species.”

The Millennium Yew project was designed to revitalise the Yew to become symbols of community and creation and cuttings were taken from ancient yews from the time of Christ. They were blessed during a distribution service at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Recently, a special ceremony took place in St Columb Major when cuttings from a Millennium Yew tree were planted in the St Columb Major church yard.