Michael enlightened us about his experience of dry stone walling and its history.

His interest was awakened after he attended a beginners’ course in Cumbria. It became a firm hobby alongside his bird watching and walking.

Michael explained how stones have been piled on top of each other as a form of defence, since man first took to living in settled communities. As time went by, they improved their techniques and learnt how to construct buildings to live in or for religious purposes. People became proficient in shaping and cutting stone pieces to interlock to form tightly fitting joints, as is well illustrated by Mayan and Egyptian sites. At a later date mortar was introduced and was widely used by the Romans.

In the UK, the Land Enclosure Acts led to dry stone walled fields patterning the landscape in areas rich in suitable building stone such as Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. A variation in styles led to the rich diversity we now find in our country. These were amply illustrated in Michael’s presentation, alongside a photo of the tools required for building these beautiful barricades.

He showed us cross sections, so we could understand the way the stone walls are made stable. He explained that most consist of two walls, one on either side, with an infill of rubble. The base is let into the ground with the largest stones at this level. As the wall grows in height it narrows in width. Joints must overlap for stability and strength and a “through stone” is inserted every so often to bind the two sides together. These large flat pieces are allowed to protrude outwards in some cases and can be used as a stairway. The top is capped neatly with thinner wedges of stone at right angles to the horizontal and there are regional variations as to how this is done.

In the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean walls are chunky, lower, often with straight sides and thicker, due to the difficulty of working the local stone which is either massive, lacking in natural joints or conglomeratic.

Dry stone walls built to retain banks are usually substantial, one layer thick, and infilled behind with rubble for drainage and strength.

Today craftsmen are few and far between and the labour costs for one metre length are expensive due to the time and craftsmanship involved.

Sue