Beating the Bounds
An ancient custom dating to at least the 1500s, Beating the Bounds involves walking a parish’s boundaries while physically marking/beating them with sticks – a way of preserving a shared mental map and collective community memory. Beating the Bounds was an annual tradition that pre-dates the drawn map, and reflects an ancient connection to land that was practiced in small towns and villages across both England and Wales for centuries.
I hosted contemporary reimagining’s of the ancient custom across border towns, following the designated route of the community drawn Borderlands Maps, rather than the parish boundary itself. Applying this heritage tradition to commonplace ‘landmarks’ that include bus stops, steps where cats are fed, and houses that have fallen into rivers, allowed us to trace a current connection to space and place from ground level, without the restraints of political borders.
Short film of the ceremonies featured alongside hedgerow installation made from the individual hazel stakes used by local people during the ceremonies featured in the Borderlands exhibition at Hay Castle in Summer 2026.
Photo credit to Alex Ramsay, Suzie Jones & Maurice Cassidy.