These types of wall are not used as often today as they once were, they are traditionally used on farms but have recently become fairly popular for people to use in their gardens as decoration. A dry stone wall is basically a wall that has been built and has nothing to bind the bricks together; they are slotted together carefully making sure they sit securely. There are many companies that offer this service and the variety that now exists is much wider than ever before.

Below is some of the variety now available and how it has changed over the years;

• Original dry stone walls – The first dry stone walls were just standard walls built up to the desired height, so didn’t really have any kind of design. They were used by farmers in Scotland originally to separate their different fields and live stock, since then their use has spread world wide. When they began to use this method of wall building in the South of England they filled the gaps with soil which caused plants to grow in the gaps; this is stereotypical of this kind of wall in that area.
• Different styles – There are many different things dry stone can be used for now not only walls but decorative features as well such as patios with steps, gate posts, garden walls etc. Some times people incorporate their garden fences with dry stone walls; so they would have the bottom half dry stone and then on top they would have a fence built this just gives their garden a more traditional English feel. As well as them being decorative they are also very strong and last for many years if built correctly.
• Qualifications available – There are now even qualifications to be gained in the area so if you wanted a professional to carry work out for you this could help you gage what skills they have acquired. An example of these qualifications includes the Certificates in Dry Stone Walling they come in different levels from Level 1 to Level 3. The kind of skills they will learn on these courses include; taking a dry stone wall down and preparing for re-build, preparing the foundations, building and packing a dry stone wall and placing and securing the toppings.

If considering using dry stone walling as part of your boundary setting or even as a decorative feature be sure to find a professional with the required knowledge to carry out the work for you.