From the earliest times of Christianity, a yew tree was usually planted in cemeteries.
It symbolizes the immortality of the soul because it always remains green and lives a really long time due to its slow growth.
Absorbing odors, it was also useful in these places where bodies were sometimes buried on the ground.
The yew was also a place chosen to deliver justice. After hearing the plaintiffs, the judge plucked a branch and handed it to the person he agreed with. tax on bundles of yew.
Depending on the number of inhabitants, they had to provide a certain number each year.
The yew in the chapel of Saint-Maclou is said to be several hundred years old* , it undoubtedly replaced one or more yews planted before it.
^*To find out, it remains to compare its diameter a little above the base: 4.25 m with that of other yews whose age is known…