really intrigued by this little 1 acre hazelwood near Kilrea. the wood itself seems to have originated just after famine (~170 yrs ago), but in the middle is what appears to be a faint woodbank (woodland boundary feature)...

this is the woodbank (pic 1). it has 3 old crab apple trees (pic 2) growing on it - usually associated with ancient woodland >400 years old - and a big ash stool with the locally rare epiphytic lichen Pyrenula macrospora (pic 3). no sign of it on old maps going back to 1830

could the woodbank be marking the boundary of a much older wood, now lost? the area was certainly well wooded pre-1800s, as this parish memoir written in the 1830s attests. Movanagher Castle was also only a few hundred metres away- did its occupants manage the lost wood?

oft lots of questions. its amazing how intertwined ecology and history are - the reason why these crab apples and Pyrenula macrospora are growing where they are can probs only be explained by considering both.
@Dendrochronicle any woodbank-y thoughts? is this even a woodbank?