Ancient Woodland Ancient Woodland

4/1/20 Siskin in garden, Cologne Rd.

12/2/20 Brimstone exceptionally early sighting.  Cologne Rd.

16/2/20 Bullfinch Garden Cologne Rd. RMP









Hedgerows




Hedges are a result of man’s land management over many centuries.  It must
be emphasised that Wool is peculiarly special in its number of important and early hedges and ones with certain criteria have a statutory IMPORTANT status.  The criteria are listed in DOE’s Hedgerow Regulations 1997 and these include such things as number of woody species in a 30m stretch, numbers of woodland plants, the proximity of a similar hedge opposite to it or of historical record.

Hedges provide nesting places and shelter for wildlife and in the Autumn a natural larder of berries and nuts.  They also act in much the same way as roads for wildlife allowing movement and spread of species across open and often hostile environments.  They are especially important when they link up with woods as do many of our hedges.  They may contain remnants of plant life and a natural landscape long gone from the surroundings.  This is why Wild Arum, Celandines and Hart’s Tongue Fern still persist in the hedge across Wool Playing Field and Wild Angelica hangs on at the base of a hedge
near the Black Bear in the centre of Wool, and in the base of a hedge on the Dorchester Road near Lampton Close.

The hedge near the Black Bear is a remnant of an old enclosure hedge, as is the belt of Hawthorns surrounding the station car park (where a woodland sedge persists) and the hedge on the east side of the Playing Fields.  The enclosure hedges were usually planted with Hawthorn (although there is a good show of Blackthorn in the hedge opposite the Black Bear).  They were created to divide up the open field system and parcel up land including common land.  The main period for this in Wool was late 18th Century and
early 19th Century.  It enabled farmers and landowners to use land more efficiently for agriculture, but many poor freeholders lost land and livelihood.

Many of our hedges pre-date the Enclosure Act and are older field boundaries or “green lanes”, such as the hedges either side of the lane running from the Lulworth Road to New Buildings.  Wool’s earliest hedges date back to the 16th Century – the 1500s.  They are therefore archeologically important. The hedge along the Parish boundary leading to New Buildings is one of these, though sadly breached at regular intervals.  Another remnant of
ancient hedge is found near the watercress beds and certain field boundaries east of Lulworth Road and in the area of Bindon Abbey and Bindon Farm. Perhaps our most easily visible hedge lies to the north of Cowleaze, observable from the footpath which crosses from near the church.  Here, a feature of ancient hedges can be seen, a total change in level between the two fields it separates.

Just as biological species can give historical pedigree to woodlands, so it is with hedges - the older the hedge generally the greater numbers of woody species.  The Bindon Abbey hedge has six woody species in under 30m – Hazel, Hawthorn, Privet, Dogwood, Maple and Guelder Rose.  This, along with connection to woodland, having a parallel hedge within 15 metres and a bank  and ditch, gives it IMPORTANT status.  Whereas Hawthorn and Hazel are a common component of our hedges, Maple is less so.  Hedges with Maple are often over 400 years old.  It is well represented in the hedges leading up from Woolbridge to the connection with the Bere Regis road.  Here Dogwood and Privet occur along with Elder, Oak, Holly, Sloe and Willow. However, we have to go to the edge of the Parish to find Spindle as a hedgerow component.  It occurs near Broomhill Bridge on the Moreton Road.  Spindle likes an alkaline soil which perhaps explains its absence in the Parish generally.  There is however a fine show where it was planted quite recently
along the north side of the Dorchester Road just past Burton Cross, where it displays its pink and orange berries every Autumn.

Several hedges protect a range of woodland flowers. The road leading from the Dorchester Road to New Buildings.  The stretch up to Coombe Wood shelters Hart’s Tongue Fern, Shield Fern and Bluebell, Primrose, Wood Anemone, Barren Strawberry and Black Bryony are added in the first part of the Bindon Lane Hedge.  Black Bryony with its heart-shaped glossy leaves and twinning strings of glossy red berries adds a beauty to Autumn and Winter hedges.  It is very long lived and can be used to date a hedge by the size of its underground tuber, but please do not dig it up for that purpose!  The Hart’s Tongue is a handsome fern with its long glossy green undivided leaves and pointed tongue-like shape.  The Shield Fern has wonderful coiled-up fronds in Spring making them look like a coiled caterpillar, and called therefore Croziers hooks.  Wild Gooseberry and Blackcurrant are found in our hedges.  Greater Celandine, with its small yellow poppy-like flowers, produces an astringent latex which was used in removing warts.  It is often associated with wise women who lived on the edges of a village, perhaps accounting for it in the hedge at the corner of Quarr Hill which would have been the end of the village in times past.  The old hedge now separated by widening of Bovington Lane has a show of woodland flowers including Primroses in Spring.  But perhaps the most lovely old hedge/bank is found near Woodstreet.  Here one can see old worked trees from hedge-laying in times long gone and a profusion of woodland plants – Primroses, Bluebells,
Stitchwort, Common Dog Violets and the delightful woodland grass Wood Melick.  It has little hanging almost cone-like seeds, and likes old wood banks, as does Butcher’s Broom.  Later in the season there are Foxgloves, Honeysuckle and Wild Rose all giving a real feeling of Wool in bygone days. Indeed, in this lane, one almost expects to meet with Giles Winterborne and his horse-drawn cart well loaded with timber as described in Thomas Hardy’s “The Woodlanders”.

Obviously the greater the variety of plant species providing food - leaves for caterpillars and also seeds for other insects – the greater the numbers and variety of birds attracted to them.  During a hedgerow survey by the writer this was very noticeable.  There was a family of Goldfinches working down the hedge towards Woolbridge from the Bere Regis road and a Chiff Chaff calling constantly.  This bird migrates here each year to benefit from the bonus of the insect explosion that occurs with the new growth of Spring.  In
Bindon Lane, Chiff Chaffs were also a feature as were a pair of Dunnocks with Buzzards calling above.  Wrens, Skylarks, Swallows, Blackcap, Goldfinch and Sparrowhawk were all seen and heard in the hedges of the old Drove road leading off west from the Lulworth Road.  The Sparrowhawks obviously knew a good hedge for hunting small birds.  The wealth of Butterflies seen – Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper and Painted Lady – were all evidence of a well stocked larder for small birds.

Certain it is that the older the hedge the greater the wildlife value.However, even recent hedges have wildlife interest; for example, for nesting, and certainly add a more visually pleasing aspect than fences.  We do have some fine recent hedges.  These include the 100m Hornbeam and Beech hedge around the Catholic School, and a long Privet and Hornbeam hedge at Bovington Middle School.  There are also some good Beech hedges in
Bovington.  Most recent is a mixed hedge planted by Dorset County Council in 2000 near the A352 roundabout east of the village, and the 2km line of mostly native hedgerow planted by the Ministry of Defence Forester, Rory Gogan up at Bovington.  Here is a list of the relative merits of using so species:


    Blackthorn    -    Good for food; birds and insects; stock proofing
    Hawthorn    -     Good; birds and insects; fast growing; dense
    Hazel        -       Good; birds and mammals; ideal for laying
    Hornbeam    -     Good for some insects
    Holly        -        Cover in winter; food for birds; frost tender; puts up with shade
    Field Maple    -   Nectar for insects



There are protections for “IMPORTANT” hedges and these lie as a statutory obligation with the District Council, who have to decide whether it is important on receiving a completed Hedgerow Removal Notice from anyone wishing to carry out removal.  They will decide whether a “Hedgerow Removal Notification Order” be given or not.  Generally speaking no hedge can be removed if it is 30 years old or more without the agreement of the District Council and presentation of Hedgerow Removal Notification.  Sadly a
Mediaeval hedge in East Burton Lane was removed in 2007.  It adjoined a development site for which planning permission was given.  The hedgerow was removed without notification to the Parish.  Later a survey based on biological species was commissioned by the developer.  The hedge was deemed unimportant because of its poor condition and lack of species content. However some features such as a mature Holly tree had already been removed. The hedge was on a boundary bank and had a ditch – this could have signalled its being old and therefore alerted further enquiry.  Indeed, if the Parish
had been properly consulted its historical significance would have been checked out and the hedge would surely have satisfied Criterion No 7 in DOE’s list for determining important hedges, ie there is documentary evidence in the County Record Office of it pre-dating the Enclosure Act and being part of an old field system.

The start of hedgerow loss is downgrading’ where, to an untrained eye, it mayappear valueless.  The old worked Hollies, Ashes and Oaks of Footpath No 10 near the vicarage, are impressive, and there are remnants of woodland flora – Bluebells, Hart’s Tongue Fern and Violets – but because of the dumping of garden rubbish outside the garden gates of some adjoining properties, the soil has become enriched and several vigorous weeds such as Goose Grass and Dandelions have taken hold, as have some of the garden
species such as Spanish Bluebell.  A similar situation occurs at the back of Cologne Road alongside the track leading from the Old Shop.  Here there are old Oaks denoting the boundary of the Frampton Estate dating back from the 18th Century.  They have been TPO’d but the woodland plants – Hart’s Tongue Fern, Hard Fern, Shield Fern, Bluebells, Foxgloves and Redcurrant – are all struggling under rubbish tipping – old plant canes, gates, drink bottles and discarded toys etc.  Another, perhaps more calculated move has reduced the value of some hedges.  This is the breaching of hedges at intervals so
making them “gappy”.  This seems to apply most to some of our oldest most potentially valuable hedges.  A hedgerow may miss out on IMPORTANT  status by being gappy.  Might it be then that this is deliberate?

Proper management of hedges can make them vigorous and a good stock barrier. Hedges left untended will become hollow at the bottom and less valuable for wildlife and less stock proof.  Hedges ideally should be cut every 2 to 3 years in January or early February so avoiding disturbing nesting birds. However, hedges cut on a long 5-10 year cycle and given free growth are favoured by song birds for territorial singing.  The A-shaped hedge or rounded topped hedge helps to maintain compactness and a good solid base.
At present there are no recent laid hedges in the Parish apart from two edging 8 Acre Coppice.  One borders the back school drive and was done by the Ministry of Defence a few years back.  Just recently the LNR Friends Group of the wood came out and, under the expert guidance of Alan Brown, Wool’s hurdler and a Dorset County Senior Countryside Ranger, Julian Cooper, armed with billhooks, laid the Hazel along the edge of Cologne Road.  Apart from vandals removing stakes one night it has had a good reception.  It will remove any necessity to slash it back in the birds nesting season in future. Hedge laying can create a wonderful wildlife rich barrier, even from overstood neglected gappy hedges.

All our hedges, even the old neglected ones, come into their own in Springwith Wild Roses and Honeysuckle rambling over them.  This is why the Parish Council are so insistent that the Hawthorn hedge on the approach to the village next to Barratt Homes remains intact.  It at least makes the statement that we are still a rural village.  From the air when all our Hawthorn hedges are in bloom, they form a significant landscape character feature in Spring – wearing white for Whitsuntide.

























Hedgerows