The value of hedges

An ancient part of the landscape
Hedges have been a part of the English landscape since the Bronze Age. There are hedges in England today that are 500 years old and more; 'Judith's hedge' in Cambridgeshire is over 900 years old. 

How do you learn how old a hedge is? Count how many species of tress and shrubs there are within 30 yards. As a general rule, the number of species, excluding Elder, roughly equals 100 years. If you count five species, the hedge is 500 years old.

It's generally agreed you don't count undershrubs and woody climbers, and ignore the finer distinction of taxonomy (eg, between the different East Anglian elms).

If you aren't able to count the species, there are a few other age indicators you could use. Since 1700, most new hedges have run in exactly straight lines. So, a sinuous length in an otherwise straight hedge may indicate that part of a pre-existing hedge has been retained in a reorganisation of fields. A post-1800 hedge usually has its original row of hawthorns still discernible, while an ancient hedge often has giant coppice stools or pollard trees.

Did you know?

• The majority of hedges around today were planted during the enclosures of the 18th and 19th centuries. Some 200,000 miles of hedges were planted between 1750 and 1850
• As a wildlife habitat, hedges occupy more land than all of our nature reserves put together
• Hedges contain:
  – 15% of our native stock of broad-leaved trees
  – 600 species of flowering plants
  – 1,500 species of insect
  – 65 species of birds
  – 20 species of mammal
• The Saxon name for hedge is 'haga'. The hedge has, in many cases, become the name of the land it encloses: Haigh, Hayes, Hawes, Haughley