Prehistoric Cornish Hedges with Laura Ratcliffe-Warren – Saturday 21st September – 10am – 2pm

Archaeologist, Laura Ratcliffe-Warren, will lead a walk-and-talk through a multi-time period landscape, paying special attention to the prehistoric hedges of Bosigran. Some of the hedges in this area have been scientifically dated and found to be 3,600 years old, from the Bronze Age.

Participants will learn what to look for and how to identify the key physical features that indicate which broad time period a hedge dates to. The group will also study Cornish hedges which have been modified and changed over time and show multi-period structures with a layered history.

Learning to read the history of a Cornish hedge helps us to understand the role of the hedge within the wider landscape during different time periods and how the shapes they make have been influenced by and yet also continue to influence farming through time.

This activity will require participants to have a good level of fitness and suitable outdoor clothes for an off-path ramble around the countryside. Dogs are welcome but must be well behaved so as not to distract the group.