Traditional Boundaries – an important habitat
Conserving the traditional boundaries in our
beautiful Welsh landscape is an important goal for
CCW. Our hedgerows, dry stone walls, slate fences and
earth banks - or cloddiau - help to make the Welsh
countryside unique. They are also an invaluable tool for
farm management and they provide a key habitat for much of Wales'
wildlife. No wonder, then, that their conservation,
restoration and enhancement is something CCW works hard to
promote.
Made, shaped and formed from the abundance of natural
materials that lay to hand, traditional boundaries marked the
limits of different farmed parcels of land, such as field, ffridd
and open hill. They also separated farmland from other uses,
such as forestry, urban, transport links, inland water and the
sea.
Traditional boundary types, including hedgerows, dry stone
walls, slate fences and earth banks, or cloddiau as they are known
in Wales, can be divided into two main groups:
- hedgerows
- stone structures and other earth banks
Hedgerows
Hedgerows, commonly known just as hedges, are linear
farmland boundaries formed of woody species. These are
trimmed, coppiced or layed to maintain a bushy structure and to
prevent them becoming a line of trees. Typically, you'll find
a wide range of species in a hedgerow,
including hawthorn, blackthorn and native tree species,
although the range varies throughout Wales. Hedges are most
common in lowland or low hill areas, giving way to clawdd walls and
dry stone walls in the uplands and coastal areas.
The UK Biodiversity Action Plan recognises ancient and/or
species rich hedgerows as priority habitats. In Wales,
species-rich hedgerows are considered to be those containing five
or more native woody species on average in a 30m length, or four or
more species for hedges in 'upland' Wales. We also consider
hedges with rich ground flora but fewer woody species as
species-rich.
Stone Structures and other earth banks
These include dry stone walls, slate fences and cloddiau - both
stone-faced and other earth banks. These traditional field
boundaries are usually found in upland and coastal areas, where
hedges would not have grown with any great success. They also
include some sea walls constructed of natural materials.