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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 15, Part 2
Much of the Contents of this note has been taken, with permission, from a circular prepared by Dr. Hooper, 'Hedgerow Projects for Schools', with additions appropriate to Suffolk. Some members, and in particular member schools, may wish to pursue further this relationship between the biology and history of their parish. For a simple exercise one could compare the number of shrubs in a 30 yards of a parish boundary hedge with the number of shrubs in an adjacent hedge. The parish boundary hedge one might expect to be about 1,000 years old and therefore have about 10 different kinds of shrub in it. The adjacent hedge may be no more than 200 years old and have only two species of shrub in it. From this Observation one can then go in either of two directions and ask why is one hedge rieh and the other poor in species or, alternatively, ask what consequences will this difference have on the animals living in the hedge? Simple hypotheses may be set up and tested in various ways. For example, for an older group of children one might suggest that because there are a greater number of kinds of plant in one hedge, there should be a greater number of kinds of insects and this could be tested by using jam jars as pitfall traps for beetles or by counting the number of butterflies along the hedge. Or one might suggest that because a hedge has been in existence a long time there has been a greater chance for seeds of other shrubs to be brought in by wind or by birds. Most shrubs have fleshy fruits which are eaten by birds so one could perhaps go on to examine the soil under, say, starling roosts for seeds. Or one could argue that if a hedge 1,000 years old has 10 kinds of shrub and one which is 200 years old has two kinds, then one 500 years old should have five, and then search for hedges with five kinds of shrub and try to find out how old they are. Hedge A has more birds than Hedge B. Why? Is Hedge A richer in shrubs; if it is, is it older or is it not so well managed? If it is older, when was it planted, is it part of a Tudor enclosure for sheep which was later sub-divided? When and why was it subdivided? Was it the price of corn in the Napoleonic Wars? Why should that area be used for sheep? Is it a lighter, poorer soil only fit for grass or was it so far from the village as to make ploughing with oxen and horses time-consuming because of the long trek morning and night to the area and back? The most interesting project would be to make a fĂźll survey of all the hedges of a single farm or of a parish, and in particular of those for which early maps are available. Before starting work in the field the history of each hedge in the area chosen should be found from as long a series of maps, covering as long a period of time as is possible. Much is available at the two County Record Offices; at the County Hall, Ipswich, for East Suffolk: Shire Hall,