What Is A Dry Stone Wall?
Dry stone walls are a practical form of boundary representing more than a conservation matter; they enhance the landscape and are part of our heritage. They have many advantages in upland areas where trees and hedges do not grow well and where they long outlast any post and wire fencing. The wall is built without mortar or cement, which allows it to settle and to consolidate. It relies for its strength and durability on the skilful placing of its stones so that each one is locked securely in place by its neighbours. A well built wall will last for generations with the minimum of maintenance. Our dry stone walls not only confine and shelter grazing livestock, they support a complex variety of plant, animal and insect species. Whether built for containment and shelter on a farm or as a decorative feature in a park or garden, the walls have a permanence and grandeur of their own, imposing a natural pattern and sense of scale on what might be an otherwise featureless landscape.
