Recorded only by dotted lines on an Ordnance Survey map, or sometimes marked on the land by half-forgotten mossy stones, parish boundaries are a fascinating part of our heritage.

One of the most enduring elements in the landscape, they sometimes date back to Anglo-Saxon times, and often preserve the memory of events that happened centuries ago. They follow hedgerows, roads, footpaths, streams and rivers, or cut across the landscape in an apparently random way.

The study of these boundaries is increasingly popular among historians and archaeologists, and this handbook brings the subject within reach of the general reader.