Location: St Agnes, Cornwall
Client: Private landowner
Services: Traditional Cornish hedging, field access works, gateway installation, vegetation clearance, rural boundary works
Project length: 5 days

Client Brief

We were asked by a private landowner in St Agnes to create a new agricultural access into one of their fields.

The existing boundary was a traditional Cornish hedge with hazel coppice growing along the top. The client needed better access for machinery and general field management, as well as a safer and more practical entrance from the road.

Because the work involved altering an existing Cornish hedge, it had to be carried out in line with Cornwall Council planning requirements. The specification set out what needed to be achieved, but we also approached the work with an understanding of how a traditional Cornish hedge should actually be built.

A Cornish hedge is not a dry stone wall. It is an earth-filled bank, faced on both sides with stone, wider at the base and tapering towards the top, then capped and allowed to vegetate. Built properly, it becomes a living boundary rather than just a wall.

THRC Solution

Removing the Existing Hedge Section

The first stage was to remove an 8m section of the existing hedge and bank.

The hazel coppice was cut down, surrounding vegetation was strimmed back, and the root structures, bank material and existing stone were carefully excavated. We separated the stone and soil as we worked, so that suitable material from the original bank could be reused where possible.

The job took place during bird nesting season, so before any vegetation clearance started, we carried out a visual assessment of the work area. No active nests were found, so the works were able to proceed.

Access was one of the more awkward parts of the job. Getting the excavator into position was far from straightforward. We had to bring a 3/4t excavator and tracked barrow around the back of the property, underneath a raised deck and through a pedestrian gate. It was tight, but manageable with care.

 

Building the New Splayed Hedge Returns

Once the original section had been removed, we built two new 5m splayed Cornish hedge returns, heading back into the field on either side of the new gateway.

The new hedges were built in the traditional way, using site-won soil for the core and new Cornish granite sourced from a local quarry for the stone facing.

Each hedge was built to approximately 1.2m high, with a 1.2m wide base tapering to around 600mm at the top. That shape is important. The weight and width at the base give the hedge stability, while the taper helps it sit correctly and shed water over time.

This kind of work is part machine work and part hand work. The excavator and tracked barrow helped move soil, stone and spoil efficiently, but the hedge itself still needed to be built carefully, with the stone placed properly and the bank shaped to look and function as a Cornish hedge should.

 

Gate Installation

A 15ft galvanised metal field gate was installed to complete the new access.

The gate was hung on a 200mm weather-top timber hanging post, with the relevant gate fittings, latch and closing arrangement installed to suit the new entrance.

The finished layout gives the landowner a much more usable field entrance, with the splayed hedges allowing better access for machinery and day-to-day land management.

End Result

The finished work created a new agricultural entrance while keeping the character of the Cornish boundary intact.

The original 8m section of hedge was removed, the new splayed hedge returns were rebuilt traditionally, and the new 15ft gate now gives the landowner safer, more practical access into the field.

For THRC, this was a good example of rural access work done properly. It would have been quicker and easier to simply remove a section of bank and install a gate, but that would not have respected the planning requirements or the landscape.

This job needed the practical side of excavation and gate installation, but also an understanding of traditional Cornish hedging and how these boundaries should be rebuilt.

That is the important bit. A Cornish hedge is part of the landscape, and when it has to be altered, it should be put back with the same care.

 

Services Included

  • Traditional Cornish hedging
  • Cornish hedge rebuilding
  • Granite stone-facing
  • Earth bank construction
  • Field access creation
  • Agricultural gateway installation
  • 15ft metal field gate installation
  • Timber hanging post installation
  • Vegetation clearance
  • Hazel coppice removal
  • Excavator and tracked barrow works
  • Planning specification compliance
  • Bird nesting season visual checks
  • Rural boundary works
  • Agricultural access improvements