No county can compete with Devon’s hedges and green lanes, in height, width, or the rich diversity of plants and animals they support. Many of our hedges were created 800 years ago; by the time of the Enclosure Acts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which changed the appearance, ownership, and management of English land, most of lowland Devon was already enclosed.
A typical field was perhaps 30m by 150m, enclosing about an acre; nominally the area that one man could plough with one horse in one day. To create the hedges, banks of earth 1-2 metres high were thrown up from either side, then faced with turf or stone. The tops were mostly planted with hawthorn, blackthorn, and hazel, with the odd oak, ash, or elm. Over the centuries, many other species have colonised these ancient monuments. To maintain them, every 10 to 30 years, the hedges need to be “laid”: selected stems, or “pleachers”, about 4-12cm thick and 4-8m tall, are cut most of the way through, just above ground level, and bent horizontally. New growth rises vertically from the horizontal stems, creating a living fence that’s impenetrable to livestock.
Historically, hedgelaying provided winter work for farm staff, with the bonus of logs and faggots (bundles of twigs) for firewood. But over time, with the dash to mechanisation and scale, combined with the ever-falling share of income spent on food, farms had to be run with a twentieth of the labour they had a century earlier. Following WW2, many hedges were bulldozed as a cumbersome relic. Those that remained were neglected; they grew tall and hollow, allowing livestock to push through and erode the banks to a sad reminder of their former glory.
Today there are grants to fund laying and replanting hedges – but finding people to do the job is a challenge. From October to February, I spend two hours a day with my head in a hedge. It keeps me fit, sane, and grounded. This winter, I am being joined at the weekends by a welcome coalition of LGBTQIA+ hedgelayers and an interfaith group doing the planting. To restore our countryside, perhaps we need to look beyond hard-pressed farmers and their staff, and encourage anyone who needs exercise, fraternity, and a connection with nature. More on that next week.
Our News from the Farm posts come from Riverford. They are the digital versions of the printed letters which go out to customers, every week via Riverford’s veg boxes. Guy Singh-Watson’s weekly newsletters connect people to the farm with refreshingly honest accounts of the trials and tribulations of producing organic food, and the occasional rant about farming, ethical and business issues he feels strongly about.
I did some hedge-laying at my previous home, 30 years ago, and loved it. And I belong to a faith group and have planted a few small trees in my latest home! I’d be willing to offer to help at a weekend, if physically strong enough still.
I too worked on Hedgelaying in the past, and learnt a little. We did the ‘Midland ‘ style of laying. One time I did the style of hedge laying in dorset which was very different.
Enjoyed learning and doing new skills.