"Don't be too dismayed at the statememt that only 6% of yew place names are near churches - that was a figure from a survey made in Cheshire. - there is still a very strong link with places of worship."

Thanks for the reassurance. It's important to my personal sense of place - my earliest memory was of the village church through my bedroom window - new pinnacles at the top, Norman halfway down, Saxon at the bottom - and right next to it a "pagan" 2800 year old yew. To me growing up, in a less than Christian family, it was all part of a seemless line that defined our village, now and then.

The vicar never said so in the pulpit but he confided he felt the same thing in private. Much like the old antiquarian clergy I guess.