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Hedge history and law
Vital Historical Hedge Facts
When were English hedgerows first established?
Here are some vital facts:
When: Roman, Anglo-Saxon, 13thC, 15thC, 18th-19thC
Where: Lowland areas
Why: Field boundaries
How: planting bushes or trees and pleating them together at an angle as they grew
Materials: huge variety based on local availability, but the most common were hawthorn, blackthorn, and holly
A lot of effort and ingenuity has been brought to bear on the problem of dating hedges. Several historians have advanced mathematical formulae for calculating the age of a hedgerow based on the number of plant species found in a certain length of hedge. As an extremely rough rule of thumb, one species of hedge plant per 100 years seems to get close to the truth.
Unfortunately, recent years have seen the disappearance of many miles of English hedgerows. It is easier for modern farmers to string new metal fence wire than to maintain ancient hedgerows. Conservation efforts have introduced incentives to farmers to maintain the hedges, and losses have slowed somewhat. Estimates vary, but there may be upwards of 500,000 miles of hedgerows in England today.
Beyond the Hedge!
Few things have helped create the look of the English countryside more than hedgerows. Hedges have been used for a long time in England, yet for all their antiquity, much of the familiar checkerboard pattern they help create is of very recent vintage.
Fast growing high hedges
Provisions within the recent Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which applies to England and Wales, allow for the reduction of high hedges (greater than 2m) which can be shown to cause a nuisance to neighbours.
Whilst this legislation is primarily aimed at allowing reduction in height of fast growing non-native conifer hedges (such as Leylandi hedges between gardens), the proposed guidance for the implementation of the Act could also be detrimental to both native evergreen hedgerow trees and shrubs (such as yew, holly, box and Scots pine) as well as woodland edge evergreen trees.
Please see the main Government or your Local Goverment Website for futher information.
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