Dry Stone Walling Techniques

This book is an approachable and fascinating look at the traditional craft of dry stone walling. Written in plain language, it offers a practical guide to the techniques used in different parts of the country and gives background detail which explains the simple principles involved and shows why walls have developed in their own characteristic ways. NARRATOR: The craft of the dry stone mason combines functionality with beauty. Dry stone retaining walls hold back time as well as earth. Durability, versatility, even in water. Strong enough for trucks, strong enough for wide bridges, yet always blending with nature. Dry stone walling fell out of favour in Britain in the Dark Ages in England, with the arrival of the Angles and Saxons, mainly because they tended to settle in the largely ‘wall-less’ lowlands, where their lowland agricultural techniques were more successful than highland farming, as.

• Dry Stone Walling How To

Dry Stone Walling in the 21st Century Richard LoveRegional variations 1: Galloway ‘dyke’, Loch Dornal, South Ayrshire (Photo: DSWAPL/N Coombey)Often when people think about the craft of dry stone walling, they conjure up an idyllic country landscape of irregular field patterns stretching across the Cotswolds, the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District. These walls must have been there for hundreds of years, they surmise, and have no contemporary relevance and no one to maintain them in their original condition. Even when practising their craft, wallers find themselves being asked by members of the public ‘Isn’t dry stone walling a dying art?’, as if the evidence of their eyes is simply unbelievable.While the British Isles saw a boom in dry stone walling during the 18th and 19th centuries following the various enclosure acts, dry stone walls and buildings have been constructed in the traditional manner throughout these islands for 5,000 years. Prehistoric sites such as Skara Brae on Orkney demonstrate that whole communities were built using dry stone techniques from very early days and exactly the same methods of construction are used today. Nor do we in the UK have a monopoly on such traditional skills.

The craft of dry stone walling has been practised around the world from early times and in some cases these traditions are now being rediscovered and revived.Considering all the modern techniques now available for enclosing livestock that are cheaper to construct and easier to maintain, the disbelief of the public in the survival of the craft is perhaps understandable. So what is its relevance and status in the 21st century and how does it survive as a construction skill in this country against all the odds? CONSTRUCTION OR LANDSCAPE CRAFT?Although no distinction would necessarily have been made between dry stone walls used in buildings and landscape features in the past, today we feel the need to compartmentalise subjects such as education, training and skills into ever smaller boxes for bureaucratic convenience. This has been a problem for dry stone walling over the past few decades and some people, including practitioners of the craft, classify walling as a landscape heritage skill because that is where most of the features are found. Another group, perhaps seeing stones being laid, either in courses or randomly, classify walling as an extension of brickwork and stonemasonry.In reality, dry stone walling is both of these. However, it is clearly the forerunner to all other modern forms of stone and brick construction because it uses stone in its most natural form, uncut and undressed, as it emerges naturally from the earth.Indeed most early walls, such as those seen around old monastic foundations for example, were constructed from stone cleared off the ground to allow cultivation and construction of small enclosures for animals. Quarrying came along much later, initially on a small, local scale followed by large industrial pits and quarries.Regional variations 2: Cotswold wall end (DSWAPL/R Ingles)More recently, there has been a move within the construction sector to define dry stone walling as coming under ‘Construction Skills’, the sector skills grouping, rather than environmental conservation.

Some years ago a working group was asked to put together a National Occupational Standard (NOS), a prerequisite for developing a craft training programme which the UK government will recognise and support. This NOS now sits in the relevant section of the construction skills framework (‘COSVR567 Build Dry Stone Structures’).However, many professional wallers prefer to be thought of not as construction workers but as independent craftspeople who work almost entirely in the conservation and heritage sector, repairing and rebuilding existing traditional boundaries. In this way they feel they can maintain their individuality and are not required to abide by what they see as unnecessary bureaucracy. REGIONAL VARIATIONSLike other vernacular and traditional construction methods, dry stone walling also has its own regional variations, which are mostly dependent on the geology of the available stone. Walling styles range from the stone-faced earth banks of the Cornish ‘hedge’ and Welsh clawdd, through the more regular sandstone and limestone structures found in the middle and north of England, to the single boulder ‘dykes’ of Galloway in south west Scotland.Longer and flatter stones readily available in sandstone areas are useful for constructing regularly coursed walls, as well as wall-heads, lintels and stiles.

The volcanic, igneous stones of the western and northern fringes of the British Isles led to more randomly built walls and dykes, sometimes with large boulders incorporated into the finished structure. The copestones on top of a wall are the main feature which gives it its distinctive local shape and character (compare the two regional variations illustrated above). THE CRAFT TODAYHow does the ancient craft of dry stone walling, or ‘dyking’ in Scotland, fit into the modern heritage skills sector? The first point to recognise is that the craft did indeed experience a severe downturn, particularly after the second world war, as farms became more mechanised and there were fewer spare hands to maintain the huge number of agricultural walls.Walling competitions were instigated before the war to keep the skills alive and eventually, owing to the concern that skills had been dying out, a small group of dykers in south west Scotland established the fledgling Dry Stone Walling Association (DSWA) in 1968.

The DSWA is now a charitable organisation, which has its head office in Cumbria and 19 branches around Britain, from the Isle of Skye to Dorset.The DSWA’s 1,000 members include ordinary members with an interest in the field and 250 professional wallers, most of whom have some level of certification (see below). However, there are many more professionals who have chosen not to register with the DSWA, usually because they already have sufficient work and do not feel the need to put themselves through an examination process to prove their ability. It is therefore difficult to quantify how many craftspeople are making some kind of living as dry stone wallers today: there may be a few hundred, perhaps as many as 1,000.Many wallers choose to work on agricultural, often grant-aided, repairs and this can provide those in certain areas of the country with a decent living. Others feel the need to stretch their skills by undertaking commissions in private gardens and on commercial projects where more complex features, as well as boundary walls, are needed.Corbelled stone shelter (Photo: DSWAPL/L Noble)Steps, stiles, seats and monuments are often required and display gardens at local and national garden shows now provide the more adventurous wallers with excellent opportunities to showcase their work. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show can offer the craft an international shop window for wallers if garden designers provide encouragement for the imaginative use of stone.Smaller buildings are also still being made with dry stone techniques: three have been recognised by the DSWA’s Pinnacle Award for outstanding use of dry stone during the past 20 years. Dry stone shepherds’ huts can still be found in Europe (Croatia and France, for example) and dry stone is used to construct dwellings in parts of Nepal.

TRAINING AND TESTINGMost aspiring dry stone wallers start off by attending a one- or two-day weekend training course. These courses are often run by conservation charities but the quality of instruction provided can be of variable quality. Several colleges, particularly in England, provide walling courses run by qualified instructors with recognised walling and teaching certificates.

The students can be trained to a sufficient standard to be able to take and pass the Level 1 (initial) and Level 2 (intermediate) certificates, which are timed assessments of entirely practical skills.DSWA branches also provide training courses, always run by certificated wallers with an appropriate instruction qualification, and arrange regular practical events for members to practise their skills sufficiently to be able to acquire certification by examination.The qualifications currently available are delivered under the auspices of Lantra Awards and DSWA. Lantra is a sector skills council which has many years’ experience in the land-based and environmental sector. Lantra gave the DSWA’s existing certification system nationally accredited status in 2003. Over 250 students take one or more of these qualifications each year.The Craftsman Certification Scheme has four levels of qualification, each one requiring the waller to have a greater understanding of the craft and the materials being used. All tests are of a practical nature and most are carried out within a given time period in the presence of an examiner.

Those who achieve the status of Mastercraftsman are then eligible to apply to become a qualified examiner. This follows a probationary period and a full assessment of their skills as an examiner during a formal evaluation session under real test conditions.There are currently 29 Mastercraftsmen and women who are qualified to be examiners, most of them based in the UK. IS THERE A SHORTAGE OF SKILLED WALLERS?In England and Wales Lantra provides a modern apprenticeship which allows employees the opportunity to get hands-on experience through a partnership between the apprentice, employer and training provider and leads to a recognised qualification. This is mainly targeted at 16–19 year olds with a lower level of funding available for students aged 20–24.

The of the acropolis, Greece, is dry stone.Some dry stone wall constructions in north-west Europe have been dated back to the Age. Some Cornish hedges are believed by the Guild of Cornish Hedgers to date from 5000 BC, although there appears to be little dating evidence. In, Ireland, an entire field system made from dry stone walls, since covered in peat, have been carbon-dated to 3800 BC. The walls of the of, Greece, have been dated to 1350 BC and those of slightly earlier.

In, the ruins at illustrate use of dry stone construction in architecture of the 8th and 9th centuries AD.in, Africa, is a large city 'acropolis' complex, constructed from the 11th to the 15th centuries AD.Location and terminology. Dry stone walls in the Yorkshire Dales, EnglandTerminology varies regionally. When used as field boundaries, dry stone structures often are known as dykes, particularly in. Dry stone walls are characteristic of upland areas of and where rock outcrops naturally or large stones exist in quantity in the soil. They are especially abundant in the West of Ireland, particularly. They may also be found throughout the, including retaining walls used for terracing.

Such constructions are common where large stones are plentiful (for example, in ) or conditions are too harsh for hedges capable of retaining livestock to be grown as reliable field boundaries. Many thousands of miles of such walls exist, most of them centuries old.In the they are common in areas with rocky soils, such as, and and are a notable characteristic of the of central as well as, where they are usually referred to as rock fences or stone fences, and the in north central. The technique of construction was brought to America primarily by and immigrants. The technique was also taken to (principally western and some parts of and ) and (especially ). Embedded in a dry stone wall in ItalianSimilar walls also are found in the Swiss–Italian border region, where they are often used to enclose the open space under large natural boulders or outcrops.The higher-lying rock-rich fields and pastures in 's south-western border range of (e.g. Around the mountain river of Vydra) are often lined by dry stone walls built of removed from the arable or cultural land.

They serve both as cattle/sheep fences and the lot's borders. Sometimes also the dry stone terracing is apparent, often combined with parts of stone (house foundations and shed walls) that are held together by a clay and pine needle 'composite'. The dry stone walling tradition of was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the in November 2018, alongside those of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. In Croatia, dry stone walls ( suhozidi) were built for a variety of reasons: to clear the earth of stone for crops; to delineate land ownership; or for shelter against the wind. Some walls date back to the era. Notable examples include the island of Baljenac, which has 23 kilometres (14 mi) of dry stone walls despite being only 0.14 square kilometres (0.054 sq mi) in area, and the vineyards of.In in the 15th century AD, the made use of otherwise unusable slopes by building dry stone walls to create.

They also employed this mode of construction for freestanding walls. Their type construction in uses the classic of polished dry stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.

Many junctions are so perfect that not even a knife fits between the stones. The structures have persisted in the high earthquake region because of the flexibility of the walls, and because in their double wall architecture, the two portions of the walls incline into each other.Construction. Construction work on dry stone. Illustration of theOne type of wall is called a 'double' wall and is constructed by placing two rows of stones along the boundary to be walled. The foundation stones are ideally set into the ground so as to rest firmly on the subsoil.

The rows are composed of large flattish stones, diminishing in size as the wall rises. Smaller stones may be used as chocks in areas where the natural stone shape is more rounded.

The walls are built up to the desired height layer-by-layer ( course by course) and, at intervals, large or through stones are placed which span both faces of the wall and sometimes project. These have the effect of bonding what would otherwise be two thin walls leaning against each other, greatly increasing the strength of the wall.

Diminishing the width of the wall as it gets higher, as traditionally done in Britain, also strengthens the wall considerably. The voids between the facing stones are carefully packed with smaller stones ( filling, hearting).The final layer on the top of the wall also consists of large stones, called capstones, coping stones or copes.

As with the tie stones, the capstones span the entire width of the wall and prevent it breaking apart. In some areas, such as South Wales, there is a tradition of placing the coping stones on a final layer of flat stones slightly wider than the top of the wall proper ( coverbands).In addition to gates a wall may contain smaller purposely built gaps for the passage or control of wildlife and such as sheep. The smaller holes usually no more than 8 inches in height are called 'Bolt Holes' or 'Smoots'.

Larger ones may be between eighteen and 24 inches in height, these are called a 'Cripple Hole'. Galloway dyke on,dykes consist of a base of double-wall construction or larger boulders with single-wall construction above. They appear to be rickety, with many holes, which deters livestock (and people) from attempting to cross them. These dykes are principally found in locations with exceptionally high winds, where a solid wall might be at risk of being unsettled by the buffeting. The porous nature of the wall significantly reduces wind force but takes greater skill to construct. They are also found in grazing areas where they are used to maximize the utility of the available stones (where ploughing was not turning up ever more stones).Another variation is the ' or Welsh clawdd, which is a stone-clad earth bank topped by turf, scrub, or trees and characterised by a strict inward-curved (the slope of the 'hedge'). As with many other varieties of wall, the height is the same as the width of the base, and the top is half the base width.Different regions have made minor modifications to the general method of construction—sometimes because of limitations of building material available, but also to create a look that is distinctive for that area.

Whichever method is used to build a dry stone wall, considerable skill is required. Correcting any mistakes invariably means disassembling down to the level of the error. Selection of the correct stone for every position in the wall makes an enormous difference to the lifetime of the finished product, and a skilled waller will take time making the selection.As with many older crafts, skilled wallers, today, are few in number. With the advent of modern wire fencing, fields can be fenced with much less time and expense using wire than using stone walls; however, the initial expense of building dykes is offset by their sturdiness and consequent long, low-maintenance lifetimes.

Dry Stone Walling How To

As a result of the increasing appreciation of the landscape and heritage value of dry stone walls, wallers remain in demand, as do the walls themselves. A nationally recognised certification scheme is operated in the UK by the Dry Stone Walling Association, with four grades from Initial to Master Craftsman.Notable examples include:.: twenty-two mile long wall in the location in,.

nature reserve, built by in mid 17th century, SwedenOther uses. Intihuatana ritual buildings of dry stone at,While the dry stone technique is most commonly used for the construction of double-wall stone walls and single-wall retaining terracing, dry stone sculptures, buildings, fortifications, bridges, and other structures also exist.Traditional turf-roofed Highland were constructed using the double-wall dry stone method.

When buildings are constructed using this method, the middle of the wall is generally filled with earth or sand in order to eliminate draughts. During the Iron Age, and perhaps earlier, the technique also was used to build fortifications such as the walls of (, ), in southwest Ireland and the rampart of the Long Scar Dyke. Many of the dry-stone walls that exist today in Scotland can be dated to the 14th century or earlier when they were built to divide fields and retain livestock. Some extremely well built examples are found on the lands of.Dry stone walls can be built against embankments or even vertical terraces. If they are subjected to lateral earth pressure, they are retaining walls of the type gravity wall.

The weight of the stones resists the pressure from the retained soil, including any surcharges, and the friction between the stones causes most of them to act as if being a monolithic gravity wall of the same weight. Dry stone retaining walls were once built in great numbers for agricultural terracing and also to carry paths, roads and railways.

Although dry stone is seldom used for these purposes today, a great many are still in use and maintained. New ones are often built in gardens and nature conservation areas. Dry stone retaining structures continue to be a subject of research. Dry stone bridge inSince at least the some bridges capable of carrying horse or carriage traffic have been constructed using drystone techniques. An example of a well-preserved bridge of this type is a double arched bridge in, on the island of.In northeastern, on the coastal plain 20 km to 's east are found ruins of an ancient monument in a platform style. The structure is formed by a rectangular dry stone wall that is low in height; the space in between is filled with rubble and manually covered with small stones. How to open undertale audio files.

Relatively large standing stones are also positioned on the edifice's corners. Near the platform are graves, which are outlined in stones. 24 m by 17 m in dimension, the structure is the largest of a string of ancient platform and enclosed platform monuments exclusive to far northeastern Somalia. Burial sites near in the northwestern part of the country likewise feature a number of old.