Drystone A to Z

A partially built stone wall with large flat and irregular stones on soil, next to green plants, with a yellow leveling tool and the photographer's shoes visible at the bottom.

ALSTON STONE

Quarried in Cumbria ‘Alston Stone’ is a sandstone famed for its strength. Hugely popular stone within the drystone industry and for good reason.

A stone wall under construction with large uneven rocks stacked and held by a string level, with construction tools and a person holding a rock nearby.

BARS AND STRING

Bars are placed at intervals along the structure and then lines are strung between them. We use these as a visual aid when building to ensure correct batter and line of the wall.

Close-up of a wooden and metal structure, possibly part of a garden or yard, with blurred rocks and greenery in the background.

BATTER

The slope of the wall. Drystone walls are built on a slight A-line which can change based on horizontal and vertical dimensions. The bottom of the wall is much wider than the top.

Stone wall with a small arched opening in a rural outdoor setting, surrounded by greenery and a wooden fence.

CHEEKEND

Type of drystone feature that you use to end a section of wall.

Close-up of a stacked stone wall with variously shaped rocks and a small white flower with green leaves growing among the stones.

COPE STONES

Cope stones are the stones places at the very top of the wall, used to protect the internal structure. Copes can be applied in various styles, the image shows ‘double copes’

A stone wall made of stacked irregularly shaped rocks with green grass at the base.

COURSE

One layer of stones in the wall.

A backyard with a green grass lawn, a stone retaining wall, a large leafy tree, and flowering bushes, with a wooden fence and house wall in the background.

COURSED

A wall with clear uniform courses or ‘layers’.

A stone wall made of irregularly shaped stones, with dirt and dried leaves on top, surrounded by tree roots and branches.

COVERBAND/COVERS

A layer of throughs placed on top of a wall to provide greater structure as well as a base for the copes.

Close-up of stacked stones with one featuring layered, swirling patterns.

DOUBLE COPES

Where two, upright cope stones are used to span the width of the wall. Placed in an interlocking fashion to ensure stability

DRYSTONE WALL

A stone wall built without mortar.

In Scotland known as a Drystane Dyke.

Person in a grey, textured sweater holding a large, flat piece of sandstone outdoors with hills and cloudy sky in the background.

FACE/FACE STONE

Although stones have many ‘faces’, we use the term ‘face stone’ to describe the side of the stone that is visible in the wall. There are certain specifications that dictate which ‘face’ of a stone should be visible.

A rural landscape with stone fences, a body of water, hills, trees, and mountains in the background.

FANK

A drystone pen that encloses sheep. They are usually built in square, rectangular or circular shapes with one or two gates.

Large central rock surrounded by smaller stones forming a rock wall, with a house and overcast sky in the background.

FEATURE STONE

A large stone, usually much bigger than all others in a wall, used as a feature within the drystone structure. This aesthetic choice actually comes from necessity where large, immovable boulders often had to be built around in agricultural walls.

Stone garden wall with various sizes and shades of natural rocks, topped with green plants and weeds, with a dark fence or wall and some purple flowers in the background.

FIELDSTONE

Stone that has been cleared from fields. Usually a wide mix of stone types and different in each area, depending on the geology of that place. Fieldstone produces colourful and visually interesting walls, lends itself well to most building styles.

Stone retaining wall with plants behind it and a grassy lawn in the foreground.

FLAT COPES

Single cope stone used to span the width of the wall. Laid flat instead of upright.

A small pathway edged with variously sized and shaped rocks, with green grass on one side and dark soil on the other.

FOUNDATIONS

The first course of a wall. Traditionally where the biggest stones are placed.

A moss-covered dry stone wall outdoors with trees in the background.

GAPPING

A term describing the process of repairing fallen sections of existing walls.

A collection of large and small rocks arranged in a stone pathway with a yellow string running vertically along the left side.

HEARTING

Small stones that sit between the two sides of the wall ‘locking’ them in place. Hearting (or packing) is one of the most essential parts of a drystone wall and every piece is placed by hand and with intention.

A stone wall made of various-sized rocks, including reddish, grayish, and greenish stones, arranged in a horizontal pattern.

JOIN/JOINT

The small gap between two adjacent stones. Joins should always be fully crossed by stones on the upper courses, avoiding structural weaknesses like ‘running joints’ and ‘zippers’. There are some slight exceptions to this rule when building in ‘semi-coursed’ and ‘random’ styles.

Close-up of a decorative stone wall with layered flat stones on top, centered with a large roughly shaped stone, set on dirt with dry leaves at the base.

JUMPER

A stone that rises through more than one course of the wall. Commonly found in semi-coursed or ‘random’ built walls.

Close-up of various irregularly shaped rocks and stones stacked together.

LENGTH-IN

‘Strength in length’. Putting stones length into the wall. This means there is more of the stone in the wall than along the wall. It also helps ensure good internal contact and is one of the fundamental principles of drystone walling.

Close-up of a stone wall with a small rectangular opening or gap in the center, surrounded by variously shaped and colored stones.

Niche

A small space or recess built into a dry stone wall. Niches are typically created to provide shelter, storage, or a decorative feature.

Close-up of a stone wall with two rulers, one blue and one yellow, placed vertically against the stones for scale.

RANDOM

A more extreme version of ‘semi-coursing’ where, of the three styles, the courses of the wall are least obvious.

A stone garden border with yellow, purple, and orange flowers, and a grassy lawn in the background.

RETAINING BED

A small retaining wall to be back filled with soil and planted up with flowers and plants.

Underground stone structure built into a hillside, with small shelves or platforms, surrounded by grass and trees.

RETAINING WALL

A wall built across a bank or slope to keep the soil from slipping. Usually built as deep as it is tall so a one metre tall retainer will extend one metre deep into the bank behind it.. A large part of the depth is made up of tightly packed stones.

Stone wall with layered, flat stones on top and irregular larger stones below, soil and dirt in front, green leafy bushes in the background.

SEMI-COURSED

When the courses of wall are less obvious and are broken up with stones that ‘jump’ between courses.

A stone wall made of stacked, irregularly shaped stones with a layer of vertically placed rocks on top.

SINGLE COPES

A single, upright cope stone is used to span the width of the wall.

Close-up of a red sandstone brick wall with uneven stones and rough texture.

SNECKS

Small stones used to fill gaps between larger, irregular stone shapes or to bridge gaps in stone height. Often stacked on top of one another.

A stone wall made of variously sized and shaped rocks with a top row of flat, elongated stones, set against green foliage.

SHIMS

Thin stones that are stacked on or under other stones to make up a height difference.

A lush green garden with various plants and flowers, focusing on a curved stone wall in the background, and a yellow and gray wheelbarrow on the grass in the foreground.

STELL

A drystone structure that is the permanent equivalent of a wind break and are used to shelter sheep. They are found in many shapes, ‘C’, ‘U’, ‘X’ or just straight lines. Above is a stell-inspired seating area in a client’s garden.

A stone retaining wall with large flat stones used as steps, part of new construction or landscaping near a house with a gray exterior and a small patch of green grass.

STEP STYLE

A crossing or access point through a dry stone wall that incorporates steps.

A large pile of rocks and gravel with a wheelbarrow in the background on a patch of land near a wooded area.

STONE PILE

Stone that is pulled from fields during ploughing and preparation and then dumped in piles. We then re-purpose this stone into walls.

Man working on a stone wall outdoors near a tree and soil.

STRIPPING OUT

The process of taking down a section of existing wall, usually for repairs.

A row of rocks being used to outline a garden bed, with some rocks stacked on top of each other, along with colorful pots nearby.

THROUGH STONES

Stones that sit across the width of the wall at around knee height and they sort of bind the wall together. Also, as the wall settles the idea is that they will help distribute any movement evenly. All round great (if not essential) for structural integrity and longevity.

A frosted glass bottle with a black top and a small glass vial placed outdoors in snow.

WALL TREASURE

Items (usually of historical interest) found when ‘stripping out’ a wall. These could be old bottles, tools etc.

Tools and hammers placed on the ground in front of a stone wall.

WHINSTONE

Term used for dark, very hard and dense stone. The actual stone type can vary but what these stone types have in common is that they are hard to work, shape and lift.