Despite how hard and dense Yew it is a softwood (“hardwood” and “softwood” does not refer to the texture but the type of tree). It has a good straight grain and a yellowish colour. Yew is one of the oldest living trees and are often found in Churchyards, where is a number of cases are older than the actual church itself. It is thought that they can live to 3000 years old although those over 1500 years are more common. It was the main timber used for Longbows during the Middle Ages. It has also been used for fine furniture and cabinet making, particularly as a veneer.
According to popular belief, it was beneath a Yew tree, aged over 2500 years old, at Runnymead called the Ankerwycke, that King Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn and in some versions of the story he might have proposed to her under this tree.