Enclosure Banks

You'll find that the banks which define the forests forestry enclosures are often kept clear. Some are eroded to the point of being little higher than the surrounding land, their ditches filled to invisible, whilst others like the one which surrounds Burley Old enclosure retain a significant portion of their original height. I take great pleasure in walking around these features, although only slightly raised there's something different about walking them, a different perspective on the woodland...also dry walking during the wet seasons, which is always a bonus. I don't know if they were originally maintained, ditches cleared regularly and banks topped, though if not those that have survived are very well preserved. Burley Old was enclosed in 1700, and is one one the earliest of the forest's enclosures, so for its banks and ditches to remain so well defined is quite remarkable. That said, if left in peace, earthen features will endure, just think of the prehistoric boundaries which still remain clearly visible in our landscape.