There’s Something About Dry-Stone Walls

By John Scott

Driving the backroads of Ontario, hidden behind fingers of sumac and tangled blackberry vines, clues to the hard work of the settlers who cleared our land emerge in clusters of stone, carefully placed by hardened hands. If you are patient and have a keen eye, discovering a dry-stone wall is pure delight, but where did these bygone structures come from?

If you've hiked the hills of Yorkshire, trekked the terraced orchards of the Mediterranean, or navigated the ancient Inca roads of Peru, no doubt you have encountered dry stone walls. Built by long-forgotten farmers, dry stone walls act as boundaries, livestock pens, barn foundations and retaining walls. In some areas where dry stone construction has been a tradition for centuries, the landscape is beautifully manicured into randomly intersecting lines of stone and time. Organically tracing ridges and roadways, these walls divide rural vistas into rhythmic geometry. Although they are man-made, they seem to belong. Dry-stone walls are built without the convenience of mortar. They rely solely on gravity and the skill of the builders who selected each stone to fit into the spaces created by the positioning of the previous stones. Although the walls range in height, thickness and rock type, successful walls follow time-tested rules that reach back millennia. Walls are built with “batter”, referring to the slight tapering created by a wider base dimension, which is gradually reduced as it rises. The stones are placed such that their longest dimension reaches into the depth of the wall instead of along its length. The stones are seated to tightly fit with its neighbour and the interior voids are filled with smaller “hearting” stones with the same attention to detail. Larger stones are placed lower in the wall so their mass becomes a reliable foundation while upper stones, much easier to lift, are placed in the higher courses. Stones straddle lower joints, confidently sharing mass. About half-way up the structure, evenly spaced “through stones” run the full depth of the wall, essentially sewing both sides together. The ability to follow these guidelines efficiently while working with a variety of stone types and sizes, during the weather of all four seasons, toughened the skills and determination of dry stone wallers.

Wall dimensions varied based on a number of factors including the size and variety of the local fieldstone, the function of the wall, and local traditions. Because many 17th century people could not read, landowners relayed dimensions using a piece of wood cut to size, explaining that the top dimension is one length; the lower dimension, two lengths; and the height, three lengths. Wooden frames and tightly stretched string lines created daily goals for the wallers, gradually bringing stones to top line to be capped with a variety of coping methods to lock the wall together.

Building our Heritage

The first settlers to Upper Canada were too busy clearing timber to think about dry stone walls. Logs for houses and barns were essential and the good stones pried from the land were used for building foundations. Less useful stones were dragged to property lines or discarded atop exposed bedrock that could not be ploughed. White cedar was in abundance and could easily be split into rot-resistant rail fences, eliminating the need for stone walls. However, throughout the 1800’s, a series of events would result in a flood of skilled wallers to the farms of Upper Canada.

In England during the 1800’s, the riches of the industrial revolution, and the subsequent need for wool, caused a shift in land use. A series of laws were passed known as The Enclosures Act(s) which essentially permitted anyone who could afford to enclose common lands could claim it as their own. As a result, poor farmers lost access to grazing lands and were forced to relocate to mill centres. Many were hired to build these dry-stone enclosures without understanding how the walls would impact their livelihoods. Without land and unwilling to work in loud, dirty factories, many desperate Britons boarded ships to North America for a new start.

Around the same time in Scotland, wealthy landowners also realized the value of converting their lands to accommodate larger sheep flocks. Poor farmers who could not afford the raised rents became indebted to their landlords and built stone walls to divide the lands, before being forcibly evicted. This broad effort, known as the Scottish Clearances, resulted in a migration of Scottish farmers and labourers to Upper Canada.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, farmers etched a living on farmland owned by absentee English landlords and heavily relied on farming potatoes; a crop that could endure the harsh, stony soil. During the 1840’s, a parasitic mould infected much of the Irish potato crop and many Irish farmers starved. Government treaties demanded that landowners provide for the poor tenants so many were hired to build stone walls and improve roads. However, this eventually proved tedious for the landlords and they opted to send them to North America. Indentured Irish farmers, skilled in the art of dry-stone walling, flooded Canadian port cities. By the mid 17th century, Canadian farmers had prospered and were in search of labourers. Many hired Irish, Scottish and English immigrants to improve their lands. Stockpiles of cleared stone were converted into boundary walls to keep livestock from roads and gardens. Walls were often built in the traditions of the waller’s home counties, resulting in a variety of bond patterns (the structural and aesthetic placement of stones) and coping styles. Unfortunately, the same growth that built so many Ontario dry stone walls also proved to be their demise. As roads were widened and farms became more mechanized, Irish stone walls on Amherst Island were dismantled and used as ballast. In Brighton, dry stone walls were sold as structural fill for the Murray Canal. Stone walls near Picton were used to build up bridge abutments. During the depression of the 1930’s, granite and limestone walls were crushed for concrete aggregate. By the time that Canadians realized the cultural heritage of dry-stone walls, most of them had vanished.

Today Canadians are realizing the value of original dry-stone walls. Not only are they poetically pleasing, they are an environmentally-sensitive alternative to modern wood fencing that is subject rot, likewise the anomalous concrete landscape products that carry a high carbon footprint. In recent years there has been an increase in awareness of dry-stone walls and a strong desire to understand their construction. Dry Stone Canada is an Ontario-based, not-for-profit association of dry-stone wall-building enthusiasts and professionally accredited stonemasons. Dry Stone Canada offers weekend hands-on training workshops to introduce walling concepts and put them into practice. Up and coming wallers work with seasoned professionals to create and restore the dry-stone walls using local stone, hammers and strings. Locally, workshops to restore the Scottish dry-stone walls at Ferris Provincial Park (now complete) and at the ongoing restoration of the wall surrounding the c1844 Burnbrae stone house on Petherick’s Road, attest to the strong dry stone heritage of the Trent Hills area. Professional members have recently completed notable projects including the restoration of c1750 dry stone wall surrounding Little Dutch Church National Historic Site in Halifax, rebuilt c1840 Famine-era walls of Amherst Island, and many municipal projects such as the 45’ dry stone bridge in Stewart Park, Perth, Ontario. Dry Stone Canada also hosts an annual Dry-Stone Festival at different locations across Canada, bringing wallers from all over the world to celebrate walls, compare notes and perhaps share a beverage.

So, the next time you spot a stretch of carefully fitted stones on the side of the road, pull over and admire the brilliance of its simplicity, structural integrity and long history. Dry stone walls are much more than a pile of rocks and represent a thousand years of stonemasonry and a direct link to our overseas heritage. Dry Stone Canada workshops, including the June 3-4 Petherick’s Road workshop, require registration through their website. Visit www.drystonecanada.com

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