The Show
Dry Stone Walling
Secretary: Derek Seed (01282 428715)
Drystone walls are, with hedgerows, one of the most commonly used field boundaries in England, and help create what we now regard as the traditional pattern of field and lanes so evocative of rural England.
While hedgerows are most common in the Lowland Zone, drystone walling is most often found in the Highland, or Upland, Zone (roughly the south-west, the Pennines, the Lake District, the Northeast). In addition, most of Wales and Scotland can be included in the Highland Zone.
The roots of drystone walling as a method of enclosing fields lie at least as far back as the Iron Age. In Cornwall fields dating from that time are often enclosed by earthen banks surmounting large boulders. These banks are then topped with smaller stones and more earth.
The Mid Lancs branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association organises the dry stone walling competition at the Show, giving visitors the opportunity to see this ancient skill in practice.
