There is a unique quietness to a walk down an English country lane. Enclosed by high banks and overhanging trees, these ancient pathways can feel like green tunnels, connecting one small field to the next, one hamlet to another. They seem simple, utilitarian, and part of a landscape we often take for granted.

But some lanes are more than just a route from A to B. Near the coastal town of Sidmouth lies Harcombe Lane, a path that, to the casual eye, looks like any other. Yet this unassuming track holds the ghost of a lost world. It is a living relic, a faint echo of a vast, ancient woodland that once covered the hillsides. This is an exploration of the subtle clues—a single flower, a stone-faced bank, the flight path of a rare bat—that reveal the secret history of Harcombe Lane.

Harcombe Lane is nestled near Sidmouth, within the protective boundary of the East Devon National Landscape. Designated in 1963, this protected area covers 268 square kilometres of richly varied countryside. It is a place of dramatic contrasts and deep history.

The landscape is defined by the World Heritage ‘Jurassic’ coastline, with its dramatic cliffs revealing 185 million years of Earth's history. Further inland, this rugged coast gives way to a gentler, more pastoral scene. Here, the open, fertile valleys of rivers like the Sid are enclosed by farmland, copses, and tall Devon hedge-banks. Rising from these valleys are steep-sided, intimate wooded ravines known locally as ‘coombes,’ which hide fragrant stands of pine and ancient broadleaf trees. Indeed, the very name of the area, “Harcombe,” likely derives from this defining feature of the landscape—the steep, wooded valleys or “coombes”—grounding it in the local vernacular. It is within this rich mosaic that Harcombe Lane waits to be discovered.

Ecologically, Harcombe Lane is not what it first appears to be. According to habitat analysis, it is not considered a true woodland in the strict sense but is more accurately described as a "lane lined with trees." This distinction is the key to understanding its past.

The presence of these trees, and other botanical clues along its banks, indicates that the lane was once a footpath through a much larger woodland that has long since been cleared for farming. Harcombe Lane is, therefore, a remnant feature—a ghost of a previously wooded landscape. What we walk today is not a path cut through a forest, but the memory of a forest preserved in the form of a path. This makes the lane an invaluable historical and ecological feature, a living line drawn on the map that connects the present day to an ancient, forested past.

The most compelling piece of evidence for Harcombe Lane’s origin is not a historical document, but a living plant: Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis). This unassuming flower, recorded growing along the lane’s banks, is what ecologists call an "ancient woodland indicator species."

These indicator species are slow-spreading plants that are poor at colonizing new areas. Their presence strongly suggests a long and continuous history of woodland cover on that very spot, often for centuries. Finding Dog's Mercury in a dense, mature forest is a sign of its age and stability. Finding it here, along a simple tree-lined lane, is extraordinary. It reinforces the theory that Harcombe Lane is a surviving fragment of a much older woodland, its soil still holding the memory and the seed bank of the forest that once stood there. The botanical richness of the wider area is further highlighted by the presence of the rare Royal Fern, which survives in the damp, shaded upper reaches of the valley system.

Lining Harcombe Lane are the tall Devon hedge-banks, ancient structures of earth and stone that are ecosystems in their own right. For bats, these connected hedgerows are critical "commuter routes," acting as sheltered flight paths that link their roosting sites to their insect-rich feeding grounds.

This is particularly crucial for the Greater Horseshoe Bat, one of the UK's rarest species. With its European population having crashed by 90% in the last century, Devon has become a national stronghold, hosting approximately one-third of the remaining 6,500 individuals in the UK. The continuous, dark corridors provided by lanes like Harcombe are essential for the survival of these remarkable nocturnal mammals.

These hedgerow superhighways guide the bats to their feeding grounds: local pastures teeming with insects, especially dung beetles. This reveals a beautiful ecological synergy, where the health of one of the UK’s rarest mammals is directly linked to sustainable farming. The abundance of these insects is supported by the regenerative, chemical-free land management of major local landowners like The Donkey Sanctuary, whose healthy pastures create the perfect habitat for the bats' primary food source.

Otters in the Stream and Moles in the Bank

The lane and its surroundings are also home to other elusive mammals. Signs of the European Otter are regularly found along the nearby streams, including the Snod Brook which crosses the area. These waterways provide a vital link for otters travelling through the Sid Valley.

Along Harcombe Lane itself, site records confirm the presence of the European Mole (Talpa europaea). While present, it is considered relatively rare in this specific habitat, with a population index of just 2 out of a possible 7. Its presence in the lane’s banks adds another layer to the area's quiet, hidden biodiversity.

At first glance, Harcombe Lane is just a path. But with a little knowledge, it transforms into a storybook written in flowers, stones, and the flight of a bat. It teaches us that even the most seemingly ordinary features of our landscape can hold complex and ancient stories of ecological history.

Harcombe Lane is more than a right of way; it is a living museum preserving the memory of a lost forest, a critical wildlife corridor supporting rare species, and a tangible link to a wilder past. It is a powerful reminder to look more closely at the lanes, fields, and hedgerows in our own areas, and to wonder what secrets they might be waiting to tell.