Old hedgerows

Old hedgerows

Walk into St Ives town centre from the housing estates above St Audrey Lane and you'll notice hedgerows lining many of the footpaths. It might surprise you to learn of their origin and age.

Hedgerows are one of the defining features of the English countryside. Some go back to when bronze age farmers first cleared virgin woodland. Read on to learn of old hedgerows in St Ives, the history of hedgerows and how to make your own estimate of age.

Locations of old hedgerows on current satellite map.

St Ives old hedgerows

The above satellite image traces hedgerows over 130 years old.

On the first Ordnance Survey map of 1888 there was no sign generally if a hedgerow defined a field boundary. However, we can make a safe assumption about age if an old hedgerow is present on that boundary today. The map below traces onto the 1888 OS map the same hedgerows shown on the satellite image .

Locations of old hedgerows on 1888 Ordnance Survey map.

A few hedgerows are even older. The Pettis map from 1728 has some of the same field boundaries, shown below.

Locations of old hedgerows on 1728 Pettis map.

Field patterns changed dramatically between 1728 and 1888. Common land was privatised, fencing it off and barring ordinary people, cutting down woods, diverting streams, taking it over with trespassers prosecuted. Commoners were deprived of their ancient rights of access and privilege.

One aim of enclosure was to improve the efficiency of agriculture. Another motive was financial gain for those allocated land. The St Ives Enclosure Award of 1808 enforced enclosure on the land around St Ives.

The image below shows two of the hedgerows present today that run on the boundaries highlighted in the bottom right corner of the Pettis map.

Two of the hedgerows running along boundaries on the 1728 Pettis map.

History of hedgerows

Woodhurst and Holywell are two excellent local examples of Anglo-Saxon ring villages. Settlers created small hamlets in virgin woodland, surrounding an area for livestock with dwellings. As they cleared further woodland to create fields, they kept lines of bush to protect their village and crops and mark boundaries. These remnants of the original woodland were the first hedgerows. These oldest remnants sometimes run along today's parish boundaries.

Landowners sporadically planted new hedgerows from Roman times. The Enclosure Acts prompted a surge in hedgerow planting when new and larger field layouts needed fresh borders.

After WWII Government policy encouraged the removal of hedgerows. Even larger fields enable the efficient use of bigger farm machinery to make the UK self sufficient in food. Since 1945, 50% of hedgerows have disappeared in some parts of the country, with a massive effect on wildlife.

Today, most hedgerows are protected by the Hedgerow Regulations 1997.

Dating hedgerows
Good indications of ancient hedgerows are bluebells or wood anemones, hazel, dogwood and spindle. Pollarding is another sign.

A rough rule of thumb for estimating the date of a hedgerow back to Anglo-Saxon times is to use Hooper's rule. To apply this, count the number of different woody species in a thirty yard length of hedge. Multiply this by 110 to arrive at an estimate of the hedgerow's age. For example, if you count three woody species in thirty yards, the hedgerow is about 330 years old.

Be careful not to apply this rule to relatively new hedgerows, for example where the Local Authority has created a hedge by deliberately planting a diverse range of native species.