Hedges and History
Last Autumn I attended an evening class on the subject of
the English hedgerow. This was supposed to cover the natural
history and history of hedgerows. Unfortunately, however, the
class was shut down after half-term due to shortage of numbers
and the historical part had to be curtailed. Nevertheless, we
heard some interesting snippets of folklore. For example, it
was thought that ruptures in children could be cured by passing
the child through a hole in an ash tree.
After the first class I went out to study a hedge as in-
structed by the tutor. I chose the nearest hedge to our house
and was surprised to see how many species it contained. There
were nine of the fourteen common hedgerow species (elm, hawthorn,
elder, blackthorn, rose, maple, ash, crab apple and holly) and
also dogwood and spindle. The climbing species bramble, old
man's beard and bryony were also present.
At a later class the tutor talked about the dating of
hedges by counting the number of species in several thirty
yard stretches and finding the average. The number of shrubs
is multiplied by 110 and thirty is added. This, it is claimed,
gives the age of the hedge to an accuracy of 200 years on
either side. Some members of the class were sceptical about
this. However I tried to date some of the hedges around
Galleywood by the method starting with the one I had previously
inspected. This was by the side of a narrow country lane. It
had an average of 51/4 species in a thirty yard stretch, giving
an approximate age of 600 years.
The next hedges I studied were also by the side of country
roads. The first of these contained the same species as the
first hedge with the exception of holly and crab apple and the
addition of oak, hazel and hornbeam. There was an average of
71/4 species, giving an approximate age of 800 years. The second
one had somewhat similar species but I was surprised to find
that it contained a wild service tree, which normally grows in
ancient woodland. The hedge also contained a large amount of
hazel, which suggests that it was formed from relict woodland.
There was an average of 63/4 species, giving an approximate age
of 750 years. The fourth hedge I studied was by the side of a
field. It was quite different in appearance from the others as
it showed signs of recent management and had been layered. It
had an average of only 23/4 species, giving an approximate age of
300 years.