Yew trees. I live near a churchyard & when I moved a Yew Tree was about 6 foot high.?

chop it down

Yew trees have been associated with burial places since long before Christianity came to these islands. If you bought a house next to a churchyard with a 6 foot yew tree in it, you should have known exactly what you were letting yourself in for. Enjoy it or move.

Since the yew is a conifer and grows in a natural pyramidal shape, trimming the top of the tree would create a multi-limbed monster that would block even more of the view! I would offer to pay the cost of removing the entire tree and perhaps providing a low growing evergreen to take its place in the landscaping.

I think I read somewhere that they're supposed to hold the spirits of dead people in them

Why don't you have a word with your local vicar whose church it is. Diplomacy is usually the best way.