HEDGEROWS are justly celebrated and their demise rightly lamented, but they are not the only traditional way of delineating field boundaries. Dictated by the topography, geology and requirement, barriers range from deep rhynes to dry-stone walls via palings of chestnut or oak. Each is perfectly suited to its place, complementing the landscape in the same way as a vernacular cottage does. It will do its job of containing livestock as well as any wire barrier—and with infinitely more charm.
Criss-crossing the Pennines, Cotswolds, Dartmoor and Cumbria are networks of dry-stone walls. With immense skill, wallers take the natural building material all around and weave it into a structure that can withstand anything but the most determined flock of sheep. Employing no mortar, hence ‘dry’, the walls rely on gravity,
