23 February 2025 / Boundary Oak
All Borderland I.
Terminalia, on 25 February, was a Roman festival and feast, celebrating Terminus - the god of boundaries. The Roman poet Ovid described the celebrated deity:
When night has passed, let the god whose marker separates fields be celebrated with the customary honours. Terminus – be you a stone, or a stump buried in a field – you too have divine authority from ancient times.
The need, or desire, to mark boundaries is a very ancient one. Yet today, especially in the urban landscape, places that were once distinct now merge into each other without pomp and ceremony. No stones, no stumps, no boundary posts or markers.
One. Oak Junction II
A short distance from where I live is the line of, what was, the parish boundary between Northfield and Kings Norton - the dotted line on the map segment above. On the line was an oak, a tree often included as a boundary marker due to its longevity and distinctiveness. The oak is no longer there. Yet, it was from the spot that it once stood that I decided to attampt to follow the boundary line on the day of Terminalia.
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| Alley from the oak to Popes Lane. This route is a very old way. |
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| Near the bottom of the hill, the railway crosses, and you pass below, towards the Rea. |