Landscape & Environment - Hedgerows
England has lost more than 200,000 miles of hedgerow since 1947. Between 1947 and 1985, over 4,300 miles of dry stone walls were lost, with 96% of the remaining walls in need of restoration. This loss and neglect has badly damaged the beauty and biodiversity of our landscape.
CPRE is committed to protecting hedgerows and dry stone walls – features which give beauty and character to our landscape and are valuable habitats for wildlife. Their patterns stitch the characteristic patchwork quilt over the countryside and they are intimately connected with our history and ancestors. We have long campaigned for better protection for hedgerows, and continue to do so.
The Wychwood Path-side Hedgerow Project
In November 2008, CPRE Oxfordshire was awarded £4,950 from CPRE National Office for the Wychwood Path-side Hedgerow Project to promote hedgerow surveying in the county.
An application was made by Alan Spicer (CPRE Oxfordshire’s Hedgerow Consultant) with help from the Wychwood Project. The Wychwood Project uses the focus of the Royal hunting Forest of Wychwood in West Oxfordshire, to encourage local people to understand, conserve and restore its rich mosaic of landscapes and wildlife habitats. Through a wide range of activities the Wychwood Project aims to enhance the environmental, cultural and historical features of Wychwood landscape.
The Wychwood Path-side Hedgerow Project is currently surveying and recording hedgerows adjacent to public rights-of-way within the parishes of the former Royal Forest of Wychwood. Volunteers from within CPRE and the Wychwood Project are provided with training in hedgerow ecology, species identification, current management techniques and data recording.
Recording and Protecting Oxfordshire's Hedgerows
Several thousand records of hedgerow surveys undertaken throughout Oxfordshire by CPRE members and others have now been transferred to the database held by the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC)
Many hedges can now be protected under The Hedgerow Regulations (DEFRA, 2002). The District Councils are keen to have access to our records before applications for hedgerow removal are received.
The Oxfordshire Local Biodiversity Action Plans have been devised to protect species and wildlife habitats. Recently they have been amended to include all hedgerows, irrespective of their species richness. Thus all surveys of the county's hedgerows will be valuable for the protection of the numerous plants, birds, insects and mammals which depend on them for their food, nesting and shelter.
Many parishes in the county have few hedgerow surveys entered on the data bases. These details are urgently required in order to promote the conservation and favourable management of this wildlife habitat and landscape component.
To find out if your parish has done a hedgerow survey contact: Gavin Bird, Oxfordshire Records Centre Manager, TVERC.
A Little Rough Guide around the Hedges
CPRE has produced a new pocket guidebook, 'A Little Rough Guide Around the Hedges', to celebrate the richness of our hedgerows, and to remind people of the importance of protecting England's hedgerows for future generations.
The pocket guidebook is packed with useful information including a handy pull-out centrespread with easy to use colour photographs that identify many of the plants that are common in English hedgerows. The guidebook is designed to be used by those with little or no knowledge of hedgerows to get them interested in their local landscape and its living heritage, and to get people out and about in their local countryside.
CPRE Oxfordshire would like to offer readers of this website a FREE copy of the guidebook. To get your copy please email your address to: Becky Crockett or telephone the Branch Office on: 01865 874 780
Local Authority Contacts in Oxfordshire
If you identify a problem with a hedge, please in the first instance contact the relevant District Council.
To apply to remove a hedge or to report a hedge that you think has been damaged or removed without permission, contact:
Find Out More
Below are a list of links to further information regarding this campaign: