A new organisation has been launched to bring the ancient craft of Cornish hedging back from the brink of extinction.
The Cornwall Rural Education and Skills Trust, known as CREST, has been founded to address the need for training in the craft of Cornish hedging and raise awareness of the rich value of hedges in the landscape.
The Cornish hedge is an ancient style of hedge built of stone and earth found in Cornwall that has major cultural and environmental significance to the area. There are approximately 30,000 miles of hedges in Cornwall, which are rich in biodiversity, stay strong for hundreds of years and are a unique feature of the Cornish landscape – but there are growing fears that the skills required to build them are not being passed down through the generations.
This May, those concerns were bolstered by a new report by the Heritage Crafts Association, which named Cornish hedging as one of a number of ancient crafts and skills facing extinction. It is one of 17 crafts which was added to the national charity’s “red list” of endangered skills that could be lost unless the economy improves or more action is taken to protect them.
In order to safeguard the future of this ancient craft, CREST has secured £230,000 of funding from the Cornwall AONB Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme (FiPL) to work in partnership with Cornwall Heritage Trust to deliver a Cornish hedging training and education programme.
The programme encompasses the development of accredited training in Cornish hedging with Duchy College, recruitment and engagement events, and the delivery of a comprehensive education and training programme which embraces Guild of Cornish Hedgers craftspeople, Cornish hedgers, trainees, volunteers, schools and colleges.
The CREST Programme is hosted by Cornwall Heritage Trust and supported by The Guild of Cornish Hedgers, The Duchy of Cornwall, The Heritage Crafts Association, Cornwall Council, Cornwall AONB, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, The National Trust, Duchy College, The Devon Rural Skills Trust, Golden Tree – Kerdroya, local farms and industry linked businesses.
CREST Secretary, Helen Bowkett said: “We have been overwhelmed with the response from partner organisations and individuals to support the founding of CREST and the united commitment to protect, promote and preserve our ancient craft of Cornish Hedging. Forming CREST gives us the opportunity to build a hedging community, uniting Cornish Hedgers to share knowledge and expertise to ensure the skill of the craft is passed on to future generations. We are fully committed to developing our training courses to embrace the distinct regional styles of hedges across Cornwall, celebrating the skill and style of the local hedgers who created these works of hedging craft and training a new generation of craftspeople to preserve the incredible hedging diversity of our Cornish landscape.”
Cornwall Heritage Trust CEO, Cathy Woolcock said: “This project is an incredibly exciting step forward for Cornish hedging and we’re thrilled to be partnering with CREST to help make it possible. Cornwall’s hedges are such a special part of our heritage, and if we don’t support the specialist skills needed to build there is a real risk of this craft being lost forever.”
Sean O’Hea, Farming in Protected Landscapes Farm Engagement Officer for The Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) said: “Cornwall AONB recognises the huge part Cornish hedges play in our sense of place. Cornish hedges need our help with many miles of hedging removed from the landscape and many more still in disrepair. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Cornwall Heritage Trust and CREST to provide funding through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme to train the next generation of Cornish hedgers to carry out this much-needed work whilst bringing the importance of the Cornish hedge to the attention of our local communities.”
CREST is currently seeking applications to appoint a full-time Training and Volunteer Coordinator, to administrate its education and training programme. The deadline for applications is midday on Friday 28th July 2023.
Head here to find out more https://www.cornwallheritagetrust.org/vacancies/