Editing Fence (section)

====The hedge and ditch ownership presumption====
Where a rural fence or hedge has (or in some cases had) an adjacent ditch, the ditch is normally in the same ownership as the hedge or fence, with the ownership boundary being the edge of the ditch furthest from the fence or hedge.<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldjudgmt/jd990429/alan.htm Lawrence J. in ''Vowles v. Miller'' (1810) 3 Taunt. 137, 138, quoted in ''Alan Wibberley Building Limited v. Insley'', House of Lords Judgement (1999)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708225623/https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldjudgmt/jd990429/alan.htm |date=2017-07-08 }}</ref> The principle of this rule is that an owner digging a boundary ditch will normally dig it up to the very edge of their land, and must then pile the spoil on their own side of the ditch to avoid [[trespass]]ing on their neighbour. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, leaving the ditch on its far side. Exceptions exist in law, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously existing ditch or other feature, particularly where reinforced by historic parcel numbers with acreages beneath which were used to tally up a total for administrative units not to confirm the actual size of holdings, a rare instance where Ordnance Survey maps often provide more than circumstantial evidence namely as to which feature is to be considered the boundary.