Hedgerows: The living threads that hold Cheshire's landscape together

Walk through the Cheshire countryside and you are never far from a hedgerow. Lacing together fields, lanes and villages, hedges are far more than simple boundaries. They are one of the most distinctive features of our rolling, mainly pastoral landscape – and one of the most hardworking.

A colourful hedgerow

Hedgerows quietly underpin food production, help Cheshire adapt to a changing climate, support wildlife, manage water, and shape the character of the places we live, work and visit. In many ways, they are one of the county’s most valuable – and most overlooked – assets.

During National Hedgerow Week (4 - 10 May) we're looking at why they are so important for the county and the work being done to protect and restore them.

A defining feature of Cheshire’s countryside

Cheshire’s hedgerow network has helped shape the county’s familiar patchwork of fields for centuries. These green corridors frame views, soften the landscape and create the sense of place that people associate with the county.

This visual quality is not just about beauty. The quality of Cheshire’s countryside and its hedgerows is a core part of the county’s unique selling point. Attractive landscapes support tourism, encourage inward investment and contribute to healthier, happier communities.

Hedgerows are therefore not simply a background feature – they play a strategic role in placemaking, helping Cheshire remain a desirable place to live, work and do business.

Supporting productive farming and food security

For generations, hedgerows have supported Cheshire’s strong agricultural tradition. Well‑managed hedges provide shelter from wind and driving rain, helping livestock stay healthy and reducing stress during increasingly frequent heatwaves and storms. This directly supports animal welfare and farm productivity.

Hedgerows also help regulate farm microclimates, allowing grass to grow earlier in spring and later into autumn. This can extend the grazing season, improving resilience for farmers as weather patterns become less predictable.

Hedgerows and climate adaptation

Hedgerows also play an important role in responding to our changing climate and are able to store significantly more carbon in the soil beneath them than adjacent farmland. They help:

• store carbon in woody growth and soils, locking it away for decades
• reduce flooding by slowing rainfall and surface runoff
• protect soils from erosion during heavy rain or drought
• create cooler, shadier conditions, benefiting livestock and nearby crops

Managing water in a clay landscape

Cheshire’s clay‑rich soils present particular challenges when rain arrives in heavy bursts. Hedgerows play a vital role in helping water soak into the ground rather than rushing straight into ditches and rivers.

Deep hedge root systems:

• Improve soil structure
• Help rainwater penetrate slowly
• Recharge groundwater supplies
• Reduce sudden peaks in river flows

This supports cleaner water, more reliable supplies, healthier rivers and wetlands, and reduces flood risk for neighbouring communities – all while retaining enough water for nature and productive farming across the wider landscape.

Wildlife havens

Hedgerows are often described as “wildlife highways” – and for good reason. They connect woodlands, grasslands, rivers and farmland into a living, breathing network.

A single hedge can support birds, bats, insects, hedgehogs, dormice, wildflowers and countless other species. Flowering hedges provide pollen and nectar, berries feed birds in winter, and dense cover offers safe nesting and shelter year‑round.

By linking habitats together, hedgerows allow wildlife to move across the landscape as conditions change – a function that is becoming ever more important as the climate warms.

A network under pressure

Despite their value, hedgerows have been lost at an alarming rate. Cheshire was once the number one hedgerow county in England, but since 1976 the county has lost around 66% of its hedgerows, shrinking from approximately 33,000 km to just 10,118 km.

This loss has reduced landscape character, weakened wildlife networks and diminished the natural systems that help manage water, soil and climate.

Turning the tide: nature recovery in action

The good news is that momentum is building to help protect these vital assets of the borough. Cheshire and Warrington’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) recognises hedgerows as a priority habitat, describing them as living ecosystems that support wildlife, store carbon and strengthen climate resilience.

Partners in the Cheshire Local Nature Partnership are working together to:

• Secure funding for hedgerow creation, restoration and long‑term management
• Expand green corridors across urban and rural areas
• Support farmers, landowners and communities to play their part
• Protect existing hedges while growing new ones for the future

These efforts aim to rebuild a connected hedgerow network that works for nature, farming, water, climate and people.

Cheshire Local Nature Partnership and Cheshire West and Chester Council, as the responsible authority to lead nature's recovery in Cheshire and Warrington, are exploring ways that could be used to fund many of our hedgerows to be restored and put back across the landscape. They are actively looking for partners and funders who may wish to be part of the solution and are interested in hearing from businesses, organisations or individuals who may be interested in investing in a hedgerow recovery scheme for Cheshire.

Contact the Local Nature Partnership for more information.

Hedgerows are providers of food security, climate resilience, biodiversity and placemaking value, woven deeply into Cheshire’s past and essential to its future.

Protecting and expanding them is an investment – in the landscape we love, the water we rely on, the food we produce, and the places we want future generations to enjoy.