Bit of an oddity this post. It follows on from my previous post about searching for military history in the landscape, I use the presence of a bank and ditch to help. The raising of a bank by digging out a ditch has been used for millennia to define property boundaries, and to keep animals out. Having built a bank it was normal practice to plant a hedge on top of the bank, making for a stronger barrier.
This definition The Hedge and Ditch presumption, is taken from Anstey’s Boundary Disputes and How to Resolve Them,
“The presumption holds that where two properties are divided by a hedge and a ditch, the property boundary is presumed to be on the opposite edge of the ditch from the hedge. This is based on the principle that the owner would have stood on the boundary facing toward his own land, dug the ditch on his own land, piled the spoil on his home side to form a bank, and planted a hedge on the bank.
Although the hedge and ditch presumption applies only to agricultural land, there are numerous examples of a hedge and ditch boundary surviving the development of a housing estate on either side of it. If a boundary dispute should arise between two properties that stand one either side of this former agricultural hedge and ditch then the presumption is usually still applied.”
The two images are of a bank and ditch around The Folly in Lightwater. The boundary stone in image 1, used to define the perimeter of military land from private land, sits at the lip of the ditch giving a strong indication that this is a bank and ditch. Over time banks wear down, and ditches silt up, so identifying banks and ditches is not an easy task. There are many drainage ditches around, which can confuse. In the second image you can see the extent of the vegetation atop the presumed bank. Looks like trips to local museums are required to verify my findings.
Lightwater 