Dry Stone Walls

We live in a particularly beautiful part of the world, on the edge of the Cotswolds. This area is noted for its small, well kept fields, bounded by the Cotswold stone dry walls. These walls are things of beauty, and sometimes very old. They provide nooks and crannies for wild flowers, nesting places for field birds. They are built now by craftsmen who maintain the traditional methods, using just the stones making a gigantic jigsaw puzzle fitting the pieces so well that they maintain a great structural integrity, using the rubble from the fitting as a "filler" between the two outer layers. The top is finished with stones put upright like the plates on some ancient dinosaur. The small country roads I drive along are defined by these walls. Over the years, as they need maintenance, the farmers either employ the traditional "Dry Stone Wallers", or re-build them themselves. This makes for a patchwork colour as the walls weather. Seldom are the walls completely re-built as it would be prohibitably expensive. There are some great estates (Blenhiem Palace et al) that have literally miles of dry stone wall. I sometimes wonder how long it took them to build, and how much they cost !! (In today’s money I don’t think even the Duke could afford to have them built). One of the great estates out by Little Barrington had a really big wall re-built – It took the best part of a year and the stone at present is that lovely honey colour. It turns grey over the years as it weathers and gathers moss and lichens. But now it is a sight to see! I am trying to estimate how long various walls (and repairs) have been up, by comparing them to one of these new built walls. It’s also great to see that there are, at least some of the traditional crafts (other than the ubiquitous "Thatchers") are still extant
Just a thought !!
Mog.