Drystone Walling Conservatio Use
“ dry-stone walls that looped across hillsides and fields with such cursive elegance that they appeared a natural landform.” – Robert Macfarlane What is dry stone walling?It’s the building of walls from natural stone with no adhesive (i.e. Cement or mortar).
Dry stone walling techniques go back many thousands of years – the Pyramids, for example, were built using a form of very precise dry stone walling. There are walls on the island of Menorca dating from 1500BCE (see pic below).In the British Isles, the Celts were expert stone builders, and around 1200 there was an expansion with the building of the monasteries. They employed masons to erect perfectly square stone walls around monastery land.
The main impetus for the dry stone walls we see today was the, as landowners started grabbing previously common land and building walls and hedges around it. The main building period was 1800-1850, when labourers and out-of-work miners were employed to build walls. Miners used the same techniques in the pits – any spare stone dug out was used to wall around the wooden pit props to give extra strength. Most dry stone walls we see today date from at least 1850, and have been subsequently repaired.
Dry stone walls provide field boundaries and shelter for livestock, and they blend into the landscape beautifully because they are made of local, natural stone.At least 35 countries have dry stone walls, including France, Switzerland, Nepal, Australia, the US and Canada – but the UK is the epicentre. Stone walls are mainly found in higher areas. Most are found along the Pennine backbone of the country, but also in the Cotswolds, Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, Wales, the Lake District, Northumberland and also Ireland. There are around 180,000 miles of dry stone walls in the UK, but around 85-90% are in need of repair and unfit for keeping stock.
So there’s a lot of work to do!Gorgeous film of dry stone walls and techniques from around the world.There are many different kinds of walls, depending on the stone used – but the basic techniques are the same. Any kind of stone can be used, but the most common are sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone (predominant in the Peak District and the Cotswolds), and metamporphic rocks such as slate (Cornwall and Wales). They are easy to work, and can be split to reveal flat faces. Styles vary due to the properties of the stone. In Scotland (where dry stone walling is called ‘dyking’), there are lots of granite walls.
Granite is an igneous rock, and much harder to work, so walls tend to have massive boulders at the base, and a double-skin wall on top of these boulders. A selection of walling hammers on a section of new wall. This burial chamber with dry stone walls on the island of Menorca is around 3500 years old. What can I do?You can create livestock-proof boundaries on your land, and you can repair existing walls. You can also build dry stone features such as sculptures, arches, cairns and even sheds or bothies. You don’t need planning permission for dry stone structures. A will put up about 2.5m of wall in a day, but the decision about whether to do the work yourself or hire a professional will probably depend on what you have more of – cash or time.If you’re lucky, there will be plenty of natural stone on the land.
This is obviously the most environmentally-friendly option, as the stone doesn’t have to be transported. The next best option is to contact your nearest quarry and arrange a delivery. You will need about a tonne of stone per metre of wall.Great little video showing how to build / repair a dry stone wall.The recommended spec.
For walls is usually 28 inches (71cm) wide at the base, 14 inches (36cm) wide at the top, and 52 inches (132cm) high. There are no regulations covering dry stone walling; the main recommendations come from the. Tools required include mattocks, picks, specialist walling hammers (developed by wallers to save labour, shaped to cut and chip away at stone), shovels, crowbars etc.
You also need poles or rods to make A-frames (or batter-frames) to get the angle and straightness of the wall right. A typical incline on a wall is 1 in 8. Course participants building a wall using A-frames and string.First, sort your stones. Pull out suitable stones to be the half-round cope stones at the top; through stones – long stones that go through the whole wall every metre or so to hold it together; and different sized building stones, starting with large ones at the bottom, and getting smaller as you get higher.
Clear a shallow trench for foundations (or strip the wall down if it’s a repair job). As long as there is firm earth, you can start building straight on top of it. Put a couple of A-frames in first, with a string between them. Build the first lift up to 20 inches (50cm) from the ground, using the large stones, then through stones, then smaller stones to the wall height required, and then put cope stones on the top. You will be trying to present a flat face at the outside of the wall. There should be a hollow centre, filled in with very small stones called heartings. Dry stone wall before and after repair.There are lots more techniques involved in building dry stone walls, such as pinning and wedging to hold stones in place, bridged joins to ensure the wall’s strength, and trimming stones to shape and size.
These skills are probably best obtained by doing rather than reading, and so attending a is probably a good idea. Other features can be incorporated into walls, such as stiles for people and holes for sheepdogs; and there are other styles of wall, such as single-skinned retaining walls, and Cornish and Welsh varieties that have turf or even hedges on top of the wall.Grants are available to farmers to build or repair dry stone walls under the scheme. Grants vary according to location, farming activity etc.
Thanks to Les Young of for information.The specialist(s) below will respond to queries on this topic. Please comment in the box at the bottom of the page.Amanda James began training as a dry stone waller 2010. Based in the Peak District, she has experience of large and small projects, including double-faced, retaining, curved and feature walls. She teaches at the and is enrolled in the.
Hi Douglas,A dry stone wall foundation is not something that Barbara Jones (School of Natural Building) uses. I believe it is because there is too much flexibility/movement when there is no mortar. Using a lime mortar between the stones would allow some flexibility (allowing for the ground settling), but obviously it is no longer “dry”. Barbara uses tyre pillars filled with pea shingle or bricks/stone with a lime mortar and there are other options (like the gravel you mention). The tyres, lime mortared walls and gravel bed foundations are all durable methods as long as everything is done correctly e.g.
The tyres are painted with a ultra-violet light resistant paint.If straw bale building is something you are interested in then I recommend Barbara Jones’ book Building with Straw Bales – A practical manual for self-builders and architects (2015 edition is the most recent). It covers foundations in detail.Thanks for your question,Amanda.
Your website states that there are around 180,000 miles of dry stone walls in the UK. That’s equal to 180 dry stone walls each 1,000 miles long.
Hi David,My BTCV Dry Stone Walling handbook (they are now called TCV) says that the then Countryside Commission did a survey of dry stone walls in 1994 and estimated that the total length of walls in England was 68,204 miles. Given the area of England compared to Scotland, N Ireland and Wales, 180,000 does seem to be on the high side. I have included a link to the page I am looking at in the online TCV handbook.This is THE dry stone walling guide and we recommend it to our students, so it is a reliable source of information.Walls are also concentrated in certain areas – half of England’s walls are in N Yorks, Derbys, Cumbria and Cornwall – and you don’t see them everywhere.Doing a quick search online, there is a 2009 article in the Telegraph which says Britain reportedly has 125,000 miles of walls.
Drystone Walling Conservatio Use Key
They have obviously been talking to wallers, but I don’t know the source of the information. I also don’t know Les Young of Hadrian’s Dry Stone Walls, so I don’t know his source.Hope this helps!Amanda.
Learn the art of dry stone wallingBuilding with dry stone is one of the earliest skills developed by humans. Dry stone walls are durable because they contain no mortar, but are held together by the weight of stone, and by the skill of the builder who selected and fitted the stones together.Dry stone walling involves either stripping and rebuilding existing walls that have fallen into disrepair, or gapping – repairing gaps where the wall has collapsed. Fewer new walls are built, although foundations sometimes have to be relaid.Let’s look at the techniques. Hands-on techniques for building a dry stone wall Stripping outSort out the coping stones from the collapsed wall first and place them two to three metres from the wall.Take out the main stones and put the top ones furthest from the wall. Keep the largest ones nearest the wall to aid building. Leave a gap of about 60cm alongside the wall for working. Keep throughstones safe and separate.When stripping out a gap, step the ends to tie in the new wall.
Batter framesBatter frames are used to ensure accurate work.Set the frame(s) at the end(s) of the section you are working on and run guidelines along the wall. Make sure the lines aren’t moved by people working. FoundationsThe foundations or footings should be set in a trench a few centimetres wider than the wall, dug down to a firm base. They could be as little as 3cm up to 30cm deep depending on soil type.Use the biggest stones, except those that are good for coping, wallheads or throughstones.Place the long edges into the wall whenever possible.Stones should be steady and unable to slip.
Don’t use ones that need wedging. Avoid roundbacked stones that are hard to build on.Pack between the footings with angular, freedraining hearting stones. CoursesThe wall is built up in horizontal courses (lines of stones of even height) for ease of construction, strength and appearance.Use the biggest stones in the bottom of the wall and the smallest in the top. This produces a stronger wall and is easier to build.Try to ensure that each joint in one course is bridged by a stone in the next course.Place stones level or dipping outwards slightly and where possible with the long edge into the wall.Hearting stones are important. Use solid angular stones. Place them carefully, almost as you would the face stones.
Add hearting stones as you go, keeping them at or just below the level of the face stones.Make sure people follow the designated batter of the wall. Try to keep the face of the wall smooth – it discourages climbers.Place stones on the wall – don’t drop them and don’t hammer on the wall otherwise you will dislodge other stones.Throughstoneslocated at regular intervals straddle the wall, holding the two sides together to stop it bellying out and collapsing. They are essential for the wall’s strength. They can be slightly longer than the wall’s width, but must not be shorter as this makes the wall less secure. Ensure that they pin all the stones below them. How many to use and where to put them depends on the regional style of wall and the type of stone. CopingCoping stones straddle the wall in the same way as throughstones, holding the sides together and holding down and protecting the upper courses.There are many types of coping, so follow the local style as far as possible.
Keep the top of the coping even by using a line. Avoid wedging the stones to keep them steady.
WallheadsThe wall head is a pillar which acts like a bookend to hold the wall up. It is the section least well supported and most prone to damage. Use the largest and most rectangular stones available.SlopesBuild in horizontal courses. Grade the courses so that the biggest stones are near the hillside, but. Start from the bottom and work uphill.GappingRemove and sort all the unstable stones so that you have a firm base to work from.
Drystone Walling Conservatio Use Data
Sort the coping stones out first.Step the ends of the gap so that you can tie in the new wall.Look at the old wall to see how it was built and try to recreate its style. Use the old stone for rebuilding – don’t clean off old moss and vegetation and ensure any additional stone used is of the same type as the original. SeasonGenerally spring and summer because it is difficult to stay warm in walling in cold weather.
Preparation and working with groups Site visitVisit the work site in advance to gain a clear idea of what you will be doing on the day. If working for a client, meet with them on site to discuss the project. Assess the suitability of the project for the group you will be leading and the time available.Consider the following questions: What resources are required for the project and who will supply and deliver them? Are there any access difficulties? Consult plans or drawings to establish the location of underground services.for both project and site. Tools & equipmentDepending on the size of the team adjust the quantity of equipment taken to site.
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