Dry stone wall information, history and anagrams

When used as field boundaries, dry-stone structures are often referred to as dykes, particularly in Scotland, and to some extent in the North of England. In the United States they are common in New England and are a notable characteristic of the bluegrass region of central Kentucky, where they are usually referred to as "rock fences". Rock fences have historically been used for agricultural fencing, though they have recently gained popularity for decorative fencing. They are often mistakenly referred to as walls, however they are fences because they are unmortared and are used to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary.

Dry - stone dykes are characteristic of Scotland, rural parts of Ireland, and of the upland England and Wales. They can also be found in the Apulia region of Italy as well as New England in the United States. Such constructions are common where large stones are plentiful (for example, in The Burren) 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.

They are often difficult to maintain and easily broken up, just by

Dry stone wall construction was known to Zulu tribes in southeastern Africa as early at 1350 to 1500 AD. When some of the Zulu migrated west for the Waterberg region of present day South Africa, they imparted their building skills to Iron Age Bantu peoples who used drystone walls to improve their fortifications.

In Peru in the fifteenth century, Inca tribes made use of otherwise unusable slopes by drystone walling to create terraces.

There are several methods of constructing dykes, depending on quantity and stones. Most dykes are constructed from stones and boulders cleared from the fields during preparation for agriculture. In areas where stones are plentiful, double wall dykes are preferred but where stones are scarcer, single wall dykes may be made. If the area contains boulders, boulder dykes will often be constructed. Boulder dykes are a type of single wall dyke in which the bottom row consists of boulders, upon and around which smaller stones are placed.

Single wall dykes work best with flatter stones. Ideally, the largest stones are be placed at the bottom and the whole wall tapers towards the top. Sometimes a row of capstones completes the top of a wall, with the long rectangular side of each capstone perpendicular to the wall alignment.

Another variation is a "Cornish Hedge", which is a stone - clad earth bank topped by turf, scrub or trees, and characterised by a strict inwards-curved batter. The height is the same as the width of the base, and the top is half the base width.

A double wall dyke may be constructed by placing two rows of stones along the boundary to be walled. Like the tie stones, the cap stones span the entire width of the dyke and prevent it breaking apart.

Different regions made minor modifications to the method of construction - often because of limitations of material , but also to create a look that is distinct to that area.

While used for field enclosures, it was also used for buildings. The traditional Highland Black house was constructed using the double wall dry stone method.

As with many older crafts, skilled dykers today are few. With the advent of modern wire fencing, fields can be fenced with much less time and expense using wire than using stone dykes.

building dykes is offset by their sturdiness and consequent long, low-maintenance lifetimes. As a result dykers remain in demand, as do the dykes themselves.
It is usually best to place each course along the entire day's section before beginning the next course above. If you do this, and at the same time always look for the biggest stone to use next, you should have no trouble grading the courses.

Build up both faces at once and keep them well filled between. Never put stones on succeeding courses until the wall immediately below is complete and steady.

Advice on construction

Work on a short section of 1m at a time before continuing the course to either side. Pick up a likely stone from nearby, then look to see where it will fit in this length. Remember if it doesn't go where you had imagined, it will probably fit near. Instead of throwing it down in disgust or carrying it up and down the wall looking for the best place, just experiment by trying it in different ways in the immediate area where you are working. This saves time and effort and is usually more successful. As the ACE team become more experienced they will find it progressively easier to place stones correctly at the first try.

Face along the wall when placing courses. This is easiest and is a comfortable position from which to lift and position large stones.

Use both hands to pick up and place stones other than fillings or very small face stones. This is safest and gives you the best sense of shape. After positioning each stone, test to see how easy it is to shift with a downward and outward pressure from your hands. It should be steady so that succeeding courses make it sit even more firmly.

Place, don't drop, the stones on the wall. This is healthier for the wall and for your fingers.

Use the best stones for the face. Awkward or misshapen stones can go in the centre. Break them up only if they are too big to use whole for fillings or if they are too smooth to 'bite'.

When working alone it is at first easy enough to build from both sides, stepping back and forth over the wall to use stones laid out on either side. When this becomes difficult, you may be able to adjust stones in the opposite face by putting one hand on a stone on the far face and leaning over. This is better than stepping on the wall to cross it, which tends to disrupt both faces.
Once the wall is a few feet high, you can either work mainly from one side or continue to cross over or walk around it at frequent intervals. Experts work as much as possible from one side and set out the stones accordingly. They first build and wedge the far face from the back, and then place the near face and fillings, repeating this process for each course. From time to time they go around to the other side to check the results.

For beginners, it is best to work equally from each side, concentrating on the near face each time. Where you have to cross over the wall as when rebuilding between existing sections, step carefully on a face stone on the far side and check afterwards to be sure it has not been displaced. Do not put your weight on the fillings.
Place the biggest stones at the bottom, except for throughs and topstones. A rock fence is a type of fence constructed out of stones without any mortar to bind them together.

The Mourne Wall is a wall which is built around the Mourne Mountains is a famoys dry stone wall in Northern Ireland. It was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to enclose the water catchment in the Mournes.

The wall was crafted from natural granite stone using traditional dry stone walling techniques. On average the wall is about 2.5 metres high and 1 metre thick. It is 22 miles or 35 km long and passes over 15 mountains

http://www.dswa.org.uk/ National group for UK

http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/stone_wall.htm Stone wall museum

Foreign names

In Sweden a rock fence is a Gärdesgård

In Italian the dry stone wall is a Muretto a secco

In germany they are called Trockenmauer

Anagrams for dry stone

'Sallow trendy = Dry Stone wall
'dry wall techniques stone = 'To wrathless delinquency.'

http://www.clarinet.org International Group

birthplace of British PMs

birthplace of Australian PMs

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