Cornwall's ancient and unique hedges have always been very much loved by the general public, but largely unappreciated by the specialists. The function of our hedges was taken for granted, their landscape value unacknowledged, their history not generally realised, their wildlife and floral diversity overlooked. The skilled craft of building them was unwritten, in danger of being forgotten as the old traditional hedgers passed on.

The authors of the Cornish Hedges Library in addition to their own lifetime experience and knowledge have collected the gleanings from the writings and word-of-mouth legacy of older generations, to present a definitive source of literature on this subject. The library meets the demand for information on all aspects of Cornish hedges, for which there is no other existing source of full and reliable written material.

Please browse our list of papers below. These are reviewed at intervals so if you have visited before please empty your cache to be sure you are downloading the latest version. The pages are mirrored to save paper - they are designed to be printed out on both sides of the sheet and placed in a ring file or binder.

You are welcome to download and print the papers and photographs for your private use and study, but if any material from this website is reproduced or published in any way acknowledgement must be made of the copyright holder and the Cornish Hedges Library as the source - thank you.