Not originally part of the Shire, Buckland lay east of the Baranduin (Brandywine) river. The area was protected from the nearby Old forest by the "High Hay", a tall hedge which formed the eastern border of Buckland, running from the Brandywine Bridge in the north to the confluence of the Withywindle with the Baranduin near the village of Haysend in the south. The main entrance to Buckland from the north was a gate in the Hay, called variously the Buckland Gate, the North Gate, or the Hay Gate, located "where the Hedge runs down to the river-bank, just this side of the Bridge," opening onto the East Road from the Shire to Bree.