The United Kingdom's hedgerows date back to the Bronze Age.
Hedgerows are one of the last tangible links with the country's ancient past.
Bronze Age farmers began separating their livestock with hedgerows 5,000 years ago, dividing the countryside into a patchwork quilt. But aside from their esthetic value, hedgerows are vital habitat for more than 60 bird species. Whitethroats and blackcaps migrate from Africa to nest and feed in the hedges during summer to be replaced by redwings from Scandinavia in winter. Hedgehogs, moles, shrews, badgers and weasels all make hedgerows home, and bats dine out on the hundreds of invertebrate species. After years of neglect and modern agricultural practices, culminating in a government subsidy that actually paid farmers to rip out hedges, less than half that length remains today.