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Dates
Planted sometime between III 2340 and c. III 29001
Location
Running along the eastern border of Buckland, from the Brandywine Bridge in the north to Haysend in the south
Origins
Set by the Bucklanders to protect themselves from the Old Forest to the east
Race
Hobbits
Culture
Bucklanders
Meaning
A 'hay' in this context is a boundary hedge or fence
Other names
The Hedge

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About this entry:

  • Updated 18 June 2015
  • Updates planned: 1

High Hay

The great fence that ran between Buckland and the Old Forest

Encyclopedia of Arda Timeline
Years of the Trees First Age Second Age Third Age Fourth Age and Beyond
Map of the High Hay

The great Hedge that ran north to south along the eastern border of Buckland, built by the Bucklanders to protect themselves from the dangers of the Old Forest.


Notes

1

We do not have a precise date for the creation of the High Hay, but III 2340 marked the founding of Buckland, so it cannot have existed before that date. In practice, the Bucklanders seem to have lived for some time without any protection on their eastern border before planting the Hedge.

We have two hints about the age of the High Hay: The Fellowship of the Ring I 5 (A Conspiracy Unmasked) states that it was planted 'many generations ago', and in the following chapter Merry Brandybuck describes events involving the Hedge as happening 'long ago'. These are hardly precise dates, but they point to the High Hay being at least a century old or so at the end of the Third Age, and possibly rather older still.

See also...

Breredon, Buckland, Buckland Gate, Grindwall, Hay Gate, Haysend, Hob Hayward, Newbury, North Gate, River Shirebourn, The Hedge

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