A practical walkthrough of rebuilding a fallen section of dry stone wall, from stripping out the old work to finishing the coping.
You do not need much to build a dry stone wall, but the few tools you do need should be good ones.
The stones you see are only half the story — the small packing stones jammed into the wall's core are what keep it standing for generations.
Walls that run uphill need different foundations, different coursing, and a waller who thinks in gradients rather than straight lines.
Read More
Before any stone is lifted, a good waller has already read its shape, weight, and best face — and that skill is built, not born.
Dry stone isn't just a countryside craft — cities are full of old walls built without mortar, often unnoticed by the people walking past them.
Read More
A dry stone wall survives winter because it was designed to move — understanding frost heave is understanding why the craft works.
A weathered wall tells you its age through stone shape, lichen, and the way it settles — here's what to look for.
Read More
Coping is the wall's roof, and getting it right is the difference between a wall that lasts decades and one that fails in five.
Dry stone walls are more than field boundaries — they are a record of land use, labour, and local geology written across the countryside.
Read More
A practical walkthrough of rebuilding a fallen section of dry stone wall, from stripping out the old work to finishing the coping.
You do not need much to build a dry stone wall, but the few tools you do need should be good ones.
Read More
The stones you see are only half the story — the small packing stones jammed into the wall's core are what keep it standing for generations.
Walls that run uphill need different foundations, different coursing, and a waller who thinks in gradients rather than straight lines.
Read More
