Dry Stone Walling 28th June 2026
This task sees us continuing our rebuilding of a long stretch of wall along Lower Rivington Reservoir. When we started in 2024 it was mostly just a line of rubble about a half mile long. Our mission: rebuild it.
Dry stone walling is an ancient method of building walls and other structures from stone without the use of mortar. Although walls were designed to create field boundaries they do benefit wildlife by creating wildlife corridors and shelter for invertebrates, small mammals, and amphibians. Over the years we have found toads, newts and shrews living in the gaps of old walls.
Dry stone walls have two sides made up of interlocking courses, any spaces between the two sides are filled with smaller fragments called hearting. No mortar is used, hence dry stone. Larger stones are used in the foundations and the lower courses of the wall, with smaller stones used as the wall narrows towards the top.
Choosing the right stone for the space it will fit in to is crucial to constructing a safe and stable wall. If the blocks don’t fit together properly then the wall will have weak spots. To improve stability through stones are used to act as wall ties, these hold the two sides of the wall together. Usually a line is used to ensure the faces of each side of the wall is straight and even. Once the wall has reached the required height it is topped off with coping stones. The Dry Stone Walling Association has loads of information about wall building for those who want to know more.
As always with each section of wall we work on we have to gather together all of the stone and sort by size with the largest pieces closest to the wall. Some stones are buried and need to dug out, some have been dragged away to make fire pits or just to be thrown in the reservoir. Fun for someone but not for us.
Then begins the process of building the wall course by course like a game of Tetris, except the courses don’t disappear when completed. It would be nice if the stones were neatly rectangular but as with all things in nature many stones are irregular shaped and it takes a bit of ingenuity to find a place for them. Many years ago we had an an annual dry stone walling competition, the prize being a stone shaped like a boot, the stone had previously been part of a wall. Our walling mentor, Paul The wall, once said that any stone can be used in a wall regardless of it’s shape, they just take a bit more work.
Thanks to United Utilities, Lucianos Restaurant, and everyone who turned out.
