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A Cornish hedge is an ancient style of
(BBC Documentary). Video Clip
Hugh Dennis and a Cornish Stone Hedge
First broadcast 2012-02-16. Series Producer, Mary Summeril; Presenter, Hugh Dennis; Executive Producer, Fiona Pitcher. The archaeologist Francis Pryor observes:
There are about of hedges in Cornwall today, and their development over the centuries is preserved in their structure. The first Cornish hedges enclosed land for cereal crops during the
Cornish hedges suffer from the effects of tree roots, burrowing rabbits, rain, wind, farm animals and people. Eventually the hedge sides lose their batter, bulge outwards and stones fall. How often repairs are needed depends on how well the hedge was built, its stone, and what has happened to it since it was last repaired. Typically a hedge needs a cycle of repair every 150 years or so, or less often if it is fenced.
Building new hedges, and repairing existing hedges, is a skilled craft, and there are professional hedgers in Cornwall. The Guild of Cornish Hedgers is the main body promoting the understanding of Cornish hedges in Cornwall.
Charles, at that time
Warm welcome for Prince Charles as he visits Boscastle
''Camelford & Delabole Post''; 16 July 2019
The Guild of Cornish Hedgers
* {{Commons category-inline, Cornish hedges Buildings and structures in Cornwall Agriculture in England Fences Types of wall Garden features Environment of Cornwall Agricultural buildings in Cornwall
A Cornish hedge is an ancient style of hedge
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...
built of stone and earth found in Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, southwest England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Sometimes hedging plants or trees are planted on the hedge to increase its windbreak
A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the ed ...
ing height. A rich flora develops over the lifespan of a Cornish hedge. The Cornish hedge contributes to the distinctive field-pattern of the Cornish landscape, and form the county's largest semi-natural wildlife habitat.
Construction
A Cornish hedge has two sides which are built by placing huge stone blocks into the earth and packing them in with sub-soil. Smaller interlocking rocks are used to build the hedge high until it reaches a level when random turns into neat rows of square stones called "edgers". Two inches of grass are sliced from the ground and stuck on top of the structure with sticks. — Article in '' The West Briton''The hedge is slightly wider at bottom than at the top, because of the large "grounder" stones at the base. The structure is very stable and will stand for a hundred years or more. The hedge has two stone faces with soil between the two walls. Bushes such as gorse may grow on the top, rooted in the soil between the walls. It is called a hedge because of its living component. A professional hedger can build about a metre of double-sided hedge in a day.The Great British Countryside: Cornwall & Devon
(BBC Documentary). Video Clip
Hugh Dennis and a Cornish Stone Hedge
First broadcast 2012-02-16. Series Producer, Mary Summeril; Presenter, Hugh Dennis; Executive Producer, Fiona Pitcher. The archaeologist Francis Pryor observes:
History
There are about of hedges in Cornwall today, and their development over the centuries is preserved in their structure. The first Cornish hedges enclosed land for cereal crops during the Neolithic Age
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...
(4000–6000 years ago). Prehistoric farms were of about , with fields about for hand cultivation.
Some hedges date from the Bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
and Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
s, 2000–4000 years ago, when Cornwall's traditional pattern of landscape became established. Others were built during the Mediaeval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...
field rationalisations; more originated in the tin
Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
and copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
industrial boom of the 18th and 19th centuries, when heaths and uplands were enclosed.
Cornish planning authorities have frequently made it a condition of approval of new developments that the site is bounded by newly made Cornish hedges.
Maintenance
Cornish hedges suffer from the effects of tree roots, burrowing rabbits, rain, wind, farm animals and people. Eventually the hedge sides lose their batter, bulge outwards and stones fall. How often repairs are needed depends on how well the hedge was built, its stone, and what has happened to it since it was last repaired. Typically a hedge needs a cycle of repair every 150 years or so, or less often if it is fenced.
Building new hedges, and repairing existing hedges, is a skilled craft, and there are professional hedgers in Cornwall. The Guild of Cornish Hedgers is the main body promoting the understanding of Cornish hedges in Cornwall.
Charles, at that time Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
, visited Boscastle
Boscastle () is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster (where the 2011 Census population was included) . It is south of Bude and northeast of Tintagel. The harbour ...
on 15 July 2019 to commemorate the anniversary of the Cornwall AONB and to visit a local Cornish hedge restoration project. ‘Kerdroya: The Cornish Hedge Community Heritage Project’ is being carried out in partnership by Golden Tree Productions and the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).Rosie CrippWarm welcome for Prince Charles as he visits Boscastle
''Camelford & Delabole Post''; 16 July 2019
See also
* Devon hedge *Bocage
Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands, northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use.
' ...
References
Further reading
* Balchin, W. G. V. (1954) ''Cornwall: an illustrated essay on the history of the landscape''; chap. 4. London: Hodder and StoughtonExternal links
The Guild of Cornish Hedgers
* {{Commons category-inline, Cornish hedges Buildings and structures in Cornwall Agriculture in England Fences Types of wall Garden features Environment of Cornwall Agricultural buildings in Cornwall