According to Devon Hedges Group, three quarters of all hedges in the county are over 600 years old. The landscape of small, irregular fields was mainly formed between 1150 and 1350. Many have since been modified, others entirely lost, but the “mighty great hedges” observed by John Hooker in AD 1599 have essentially remained, to become a symbol of Devon's enduring appeal, as well as a living connection with its past. From Bronze Age reaves to Medieval strip fields, Devon has a wealth of archaeologically important hedges, most still in farming use today.

Some Devon hedges incorporate earthworks that were already old by the time they were integrated into a field. They can include the former ramparts of Iron Age hill forts (c. 700 BC - AD 50). Even earlier settlement enclosures or field boundaries, like coaxial field systems on Dartmoor, can date back over 4,000 years to the Bronze Age or Neolithic period. Other prehistoric hedges preserve ancient land divisions, for instance the Dartmoor reaves (systems of long parallel boundary banks) are known to date from the Middle Bronze Age (c.1400 - 1000 BC). Anglo-Saxon period (AD 800 - 1066) in Devon, it is difficult to know how widespread hedges were, but the typical landscape of dispersed farms, embanked roads and manorial estates is thought to have emerged at this time.

In 2011, as part of their Green Lanes and Veins project 19 farmers and hedge managers were interviewed to produce an oral history of Devon’s hedges. These interviews are held in major public libraries and with the Devon Archives and Local Studies Service. Sue Wheeler, who led on the ora history, produced two DVDs which together present the highlights from the interviews. These can be viewed online on the YouTube channel of the Devon Hedge Group, and also on their Oral History page.