What is a Cornish Hedge?

Technically a Cornish Hedge is a stone faced earth bank, though as you may have guessed there’s a bit more to it than that… They are known by many names- often referred to as walling, some-times even as dry-stone walling (which they aren’t really).Many are deliberately planted with Blackthorn and virtually all survive so long that a wide variety of flora and fauna make their home in, on, under or beside them. It is said that you can date a Cornish Hedge by how many tree and shrub species it has. The ‘Hooper formula’ as it is known, suggests that a typical 30m length of hedge acquires a new  tree/shrub species approximately each century, so typically, the more species of tree/shrub the more ancient the hedge.

Most Cornish hedges were built between the late 18^th Century and the start of the 20^th Century as tenant farmers sought or were required to improve their holdings, but some date back much earlier. Some hedges incorporate or form part of other historic structures. In West Penwith, Neolithic flints suggest that parts of the enclosures were built by some of the first farmers up to 6,000 years ago. Prehistoric field systems are recognised by their reverse ‘S’ shaped plan and the extensive prehistoric field system around West Penwith is considered of international significance. Such curving enclosures allowed the plough’s long team of oxen to turn at the headland of each field before horses were widely introduced.