ES Views: Wild London: Hawthorns provide an autumnal feast

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Nearly 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedges were planted in the English countryside from the 18th century onwards.
Philip Precey
3 November 2017
WEST END FINAL

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As the leaves of the city’s trees turn from green to russet and gold we witness the final flourishes of the wild fruits that add a splash of colour to the landscape and much-needed nourishment for wildlife. The commonest are surely those of hawthorn, an almost ubiquitous, small and often messily shaped tree found in woodlands, parks, gardens and rural hedgerows.

Its bright red berries emerge towards the end of summer in hefty clusters, often numbering thousands per tree. These darken so that by November those remaining are a dull burgundy. As temperatures cool, birds, voles and woodmice prepare for winter by fattening up — and berries provide crucial nutrition. A plentiful harvest such as this year’s helps tide them over until spring.

Nearly 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedges were planted in the English countryside from the 18th century onwards as land was enclosed for livestock. Hawthorn grows quickly and, if planted densely, its thorny structure acts as a robust barrier — “haw” derives from an old word meaning “land enclosed by a hedge”. Berries dropped by animals are dispersed, enabling hawthorns to colonise new ground such as railway embankments and wastelands.

Hawthorns rarely grow large but are still referenced in place names including Thornton Heath, Osidge and Spelthorne. There is also the long-gone Thorney Island, upon which Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament were built.

With the loss of 125,000km of hedgerows across Britain since the 1940s, hawthorn’s value as a crucial wildlife resource means that it is being widely planted again. And by next spring, resplendent in their creamy white blossom, hawthorns will shine brightly once more across London’s parks and wildspaces.

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