|
 |
Tony
Beard is a farmer, a broadcaster and an entertainer. Each month
he completes another page of his Dartmoor Diary.....
Hullo
there,
How much of the countryside do we take for
granted? Did those hedges that we see just appear as if by magic?
Of course not.......
|
What
is a Hedge?
When were they built and by whom? Let us consider the evidence and look
at their history.
A hedge can tell us so much about the countryside, they vary quite a lot
according to where they are and when they were constructed. To begin with
let us not forget that they are man made, they are not a natural phenomenon,
and here on Dartmoor there is evidence that they date back thousands of
years, certainly to The Bronze Age some 2000 B.C.
 |
|
You
can see all sorts of hedges
across the moors
|
We call these old
prehistoric remnants, “Reaves” on Dartmoor, they can still clearly be
seen on the moors today, (early hedges that look more like small banks
traversing the open countryside). Many of these reaves run parallel to
each other across and up and down the sides of valleys and continue over
the hilltops as well, running several miles and divided up by cross reaves
making rectangular enclosures.
Their early existence can also be seen in the shape of enclosed fields
in the farms of today.
Our ancestors knew all about recycling, to hear people talk today you
would think that this is a new idea, recently invented. Taking the prehistoric
reaves as a base, as we moved into “The Medieval Era”, the farmers and
stockmen simply extended the height of the old reaves producing hedges,
using the most natural and available material that came to hand.
 |
|
Grimspound
on Dartmoor
|
Off the moors, where
the supply of stone was limited but the natural soil and turf was deeper,
the hedge/bank was constructed, hence “The Traditional Devonshire Banks”,
these then had bushes, shrubs, and trees planted on the top.
This created shelter and in due course a source of renewable wood for fires,
buildings and much more.
Getting nearer the moors where more stone became available, some gathered
from the clearing of the ground for cropping and cultivation, hedges with
both sides faced with stone, infilled with soil and again the top planted
with trees and other vegetation, can be seen.
On reaching the High Moors here we find “The Dry Stone Walls”, as the name
implies, with stones a-plenty and limited soil, the natural material was
used in abundance. What better way was there of using the stones collected
when clearing the ground for grazing or cultivation.
| Turn
another page of Tony's Dartmoor Diary |
 |
|
