Stoke Ash - 237 Hedges. We are off to a good start, a quarter of the hedges now surveyed and mapped. Weather depending we should complete more before the leaves drop. More surveyors needed, if you feel you can help Email us especially to support Thwaite.

The Stoke Ash & Thwaite Hedgerow Survey

The history of our hedgerows

Hedgerows are one of Suffolk's most traditional landscape features. Suffolk is the county of hedgerows. Every one of our hedges is linked to the history of agriculture and land ownership, going back to a time when farmers needed to mark boundaries between land holdings, particularly when keeping livestock. Although stone cairns and ditches have been used to mark fields, in Suffolk it was predominantly hedges that performed that task.

Old hedgerow...

... or new?

Traditional agriculture led to a patchwork of these hedges, which, as well as marks of ownership and providing stock proof barriers, supported a wide diversity of wildlife. They act as corridors allowing wildlife to move between various habitats in an increasingly hostile world. They provide the wildlife motorways of the countryside. They are useful to the farmer, providing shelter for his animals and acting as a habitat for beneficial birds and insects to help them survive the winter and protect his crops in the future.

Why a survey?

It is important to recognise what hedges are in our parish and their true value. The history of hedgerows goes back to the time when woodlands were first cleared for agriculture and strips of shrubs were left as field boundaries, a practice known as "assarting". Some of these ancient hedgerows still exist in the county and contain many of the species found in ancient woodland, such hazel and dogwood. These hedges could be as much as one thousand years old. It would be nice to think that we might find such a hedge within our own parish!

Many of our hedges are under pressure. A brief look at local maps shows just how many of our hedges have been lost, even over the past fifty years. We need good quality information to help inform the decisions we make about our future plans and to identify the hedges that deserve to be preserved. It will also help landowners identify the areas which need the greatest consideration and possibly help in applications for funding to secure the hedges for the future.

In order to assess the value of a hedge it is important to record its type and the number of major species that it contains. It is a good rule of thumb that for naturally growing hedgerows each hardwood species that exists in the hedge is likely to have taken one hundred years to establish. Hence a hedge with three naturally occurring hardwood species will probably be over three hundred years old!

How can I get involved?

You may be able to help in a number of ways.

• As a Surveyor
  We estimate that there are around five hundred hedges to survey. We need a reasonably large group of surveyors to do this. "But," I hear you say, "it all sounds very complicated". Don't worry. You don't have to be an expert. Full training will be given and if you wish to start by sitting in on a survey until you have the confidence to start one of your own, you will be most welcome. You may volunteer to complete as many or as few hedge surveys as you wish. The survey will take around one or two visits per hedge, depending on size.
  
  
• As a Landowner
  The team will ensure that any disturbance to land and property will be kept to a minimum. We will only enter private property with your permission. If necessary, we will arrange for a visit at a time to suit you. Unless you are blessed with a number of long hedges on your land, the survey will usually only take one or two short visits. Please allow us access to complete this valuable work.
  
  
• As a Recorder
  For those who may not wish to conduct the survey, anyone with computer skills could help by typing the data from survey forms into computer spreadsheet records. Assistance will also be needed organising and presenting the data on a web site. Experience of presenting information through "clickable maps" on web sites would be particularly valued.

When will this happen?

We need a number of initial surveyors to identify which field boundaries are hedges and need further survey work. The organisers have been able to conduct a preliminary assessment of this by use of aerial photography, but further groundwork is necessary. If we are able to this before the hedges loose their leaves and the resulting species are more difficult to identify, then so much the better. However, it looks as if the possible early arrival of autumn will mean that only a few actual hedge surveys will be able to be completed. It is more realistic to prepare for the full survey to commence in earnest in the Spring.

What will happen with the results?

The results of this survey should be useful to the local and district councils when making decisions over land use. The survey data will be collated by Suffolk Coastal and recorded on their Geographical Information system. In addition, we hope that the data can be presented on this web site for use by all the community.