Hayward (profession)

Hayward, or "hedge warden", was an officer of an English parish dating from the Middle Ages in charge of fences and enclosures; also, a herdsman in charge of cattle and other animals grazing on common land. Their main job was to protect the crops of the village from livestock.^[1]

In Sussex and Surrey the form Haybittle occurs (from Old French, haia, enclosure and Anglo-Saxon bydel, bailiff). This has survived as a locally common surname, especially in and around Reigate.^[2]