Craigends Yew

In 1479 the lands of Craigends were granted to William Cuninghame (d. 1520), the second son of Alexander Cuninghame, the first Earl of Glencairn and this cadet branch established themselves at Craigends until the 20th century. The first fortified manor house was built by William. John Charles Cuninghame, the 17th and final laird died in 1917 and the estate passed to Alison Cuninghame, his widow. Alison died in 1958 and the estate then was inherited a nephew who sold the estate to the developers Taylor Woodrow. In 1971 the mansion house was demolished and by 1973, Taylor Woodrow had started construction on the first of what would be many housing estates within the grounds. and it may be that…

The Ancient Tree Inventory records the Craigends Yew as tree number 31486. Layering yews differ from the standard growth form in that their branches grow in a pendulous fashion and upon contacting the soil level they root, a process called 'layering' and they may also send up new vertical stems. The central trunk will eventually die and the clones will continue to grow resulting in an increasing circumference and eventually a hollow centre. As layering is not a process involving sexual reproduction the new plants are clones of the parent tree and all of the new individuals formed have identical DNA with each other and the parent. The clonal grove has achieved a second row of branch layering…