Woods, Hedges and Fields - Gower - page 264

there was a sighting in 1999 of an adult in a bird box and a gnawed nut was found in 2001. Dormice are
easily overlooked, however, being very elusive animals that are rarely seen even in parts of the country
where they are relatively common. In addition they occur in very small numbers, at a level of only six
to ten per hectare, even in prime habitats. They are also small and strictly nocturnal and during daylight
hours are fast asleep in their nests. Dormice are regarded as poor colonisers and are therefore prone to
die out in isolated habitats, a viable population needing access to at least 20 hectares of suitable territory.
Much more research is needed before the distribution and strength of the Gower populations can be prop-
erly understood.
HEDGES
There are two generally recognised hedgerow types, assart hedgerows and enclosure hedgerows, which
correspondtotheancientandplannedcountrysidedescribedbyOliverRackham(1986).Bothtypesoccur
in Gower and intimately reflect past land use in the peninsula. Assart is the informal and often pre-medi-
eval practice of creating farmland from previously untouched woodland, heathland and fenland, whereas
enclosureisthedeliberateplantingofhedgestoencloseformerlyopenground,whichwasusuallytheme-
dieval field system. Assart hedgerows normally therefore have a much richer flora and fauna than enclos-
ure hedges as they have been derived from the original woodland or from rough wood pasture, unfarmed
heathland etc. Some enclosures have been dated as far back as the fifteenth century, but most date from
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the popular hedging plants were hawthorn and blackthorn.
The areas of assart and enclosure hedges can be easily identified by looking at a modern large-scale
map.Theassartareashaveanintimatepatternofsmallfields,theboundariesofwhichareoftencurvedor
very irregular and are sometimes massive structures full of mature trees. Some roads can be clearly seen
to cut through this pattern and the fields thus pre-date the road. This is the classic ancient countryside as
described by Rackham and is formed as a result of medieval or pre-medieval assarts. In areas of planned
countryside, on the other hand, the field system generally derives from post-medieval enclosures and the
boundaries are usually straight and enclose larger fields. The enclosure hedges are often treeless. This
clear division often breaks down around settlements where small parcels of land are directly associated
with houses or are used as allotments or paddocks.
The classic example of assart hedgerows in Gower is the community or parish of Llanrhidian Higher,
which stretches inland from Wernffrwd and Llanmorlais and is bounded by the commons to the south
(Fig. 151). Llanrhidian has the largest area of assart hedgerows in the peninsula and undoubtedly the best
hedgesintermsofgeographicalextent,generalantiquityandtotalhedgerowlength.Thefieldshereinthe
subboscus are mainly very small, with herb-rich grassland, and there is a large amount of ancient wood-
land, which complements the value of the hedgerows (Table 12). The hedges are well stocked with trees,
mostly pedunculate oak, with some ash and frequently with shrubs that have grown to maturity. Often
the trees have grown from coppice or an old laid hedge. They are usually very high and wide and have
a substantial bank. Dense bases surrounded by bramble are a frequent feature and this both protects the
herb layer from grazing and provides a good habitat for invertebrates and birds. As in all areas of Gower,
hawthorn and blackthorn are frequent, but here they are complemented by hazel, holly Ilex aquifolium ,
grey sallow Salix cinerea and dog rose Rosa canina . Other trees and shrubs include crab apple and field
maple. There is a diverse herb layer that includes species such as tutsan Hypericum androsaemum , scaly
male-fern Dryopteris affinis , betony Stachys officinalis and devil's-bit scabious. The latter two species
demonstrate that hedges can be a reservoir for grassland species as well as woodland species.