Dry stone walls: their history and ecology

Stone walls shape much of our upland countryside, yet their history and ecological importance are often overlooked. In this film, we explore how dry stone walls came to define the landscape, how they were built, and what they can tell us about past farming systems, climate, and land use. Joined by historian and farmer Tom Lord, we look closely at different styles of stone walls, from medieval boundary walls to later field walls, and learn how features such as wall width, height, and stone type reveal their age and purpose. We also examine why stone walls replaced hedges in higher landscapes, and how colder climates and altitude influenced this shift. Beyond their historical role, stone walls are shown to be living structures. We discover how they create shelter for livestock, provide habitats for invertebrates, mosses, and lichens, and generate a range of microclimates that increase biodiversity at a very small scale. By learning how to “read” a stone wall, we uncover a primary source of evidence for understanding the history, ecology, and management of the countryside — written not in documents, but in stone.