Traditional dry stone walling, done properly
Dry stone walls are the signature of the Cotswold landscape. Built without mortar, they rely entirely on the skill of the waller — the careful selection and placement of each stone so that the wall locks together under its own weight. Done well, a dry stone wall will outlast almost any other garden structure: it drains freely, flexes with the ground, shrugs off frost, and can stand for well over a century.
Done badly, it slumps within a few years. The difference is in the detail: proper foundations, two well-battered faces, a packed hearting core, through stones tying the faces together, and a solid course of cope stones on top. That is how we build every wall — the way Cotswold walls have been built for hundreds of years.
What we build
- Boundary walls — property boundaries in traditional coursed Cotswold stone, from short garden frontages to long runs.
- Garden walls and landscaping — retaining walls, terraces, raised beds, seating walls and other garden features in dry stone.
- Agricultural and field walls — stock-proof field walls, gateways and wall ends (cheek ends), built to stand up to livestock and weather.
- New walls — designed and built from scratch, with stone sourced to suit the site and its surroundings.
- Rebuilds — collapsed or slumped walls carefully taken down, sorted and rebuilt, reusing the original stone wherever possible.
- Repairs — from a single collapsed gap to bulged and leaning sections. See our dedicated stone wall repair page.
Cotswold stone
Most of our walling is in Cotswold stone — the honey-coloured oolitic limestone this landscape is famous for. It is a superb walling stone: it splits naturally into flat-bedded pieces, weathers beautifully, and blends new work into the landscape within a few seasons.
When we build or repair a wall, matching the stone matters as much as the build itself. We source stone to match your existing walls in colour, bedding and texture — whether that is weathered reclaimed stone for a repair that needs to disappear, or fresh quarried stone for a new wall that will mellow naturally.
How a wall goes together
A traditional Cotswold dry stone wall is built in distinct parts, and each one matters:
- Foundation — a trench cut to firm ground, set with the largest foundation stones.
- Two faces, battered inwards — the wall is wider at the base than the top, giving it its characteristic A-shaped profile and its stability.
- Hearting — the core packed tightly with smaller stone, never loose fill. Poor hearting is the most common reason walls fail.
- Through stones — long stones laid right through the wall at intervals, tying the two faces together.
- Cope stones — the top course, laid on edge, locking the wall together and shedding water.
What a dry stone wall costs
Dry stone walling is usually priced per square metre of wall face. The main factors are:
- whether it is a rebuild (reusing your stone) or a new build (stone supplied);
- the height and profile of the wall;
- access — a roadside wall is quicker to work on than one across a field;
- stone supply — reclaimed weathered stone versus new quarried stone.
Rather than quote blind, we visit, measure and give you a written, itemised quotation — free, and without obligation. If a full rebuild isn't necessary, we'll tell you: often only a section needs attention.
Where we work
We build and repair dry stone walls across Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds, including Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Cirencester.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a dry stone wall last? A properly built dry stone wall should stand for generations — many Cotswold field walls are over a hundred years old. Because there is no mortar to fail, the wall copes with ground movement and frost far better than most mortared walls, and when a section does eventually slump it can be rebuilt with the same stone.
Can you repair my existing wall rather than rebuild it all? Usually, yes. Most walls fail in sections — a gap here, a bulge there — while the rest of the wall is sound. We take down only what has failed, sort the stone, and rebuild it to tie into the sound wall either side.
Do I need planning permission for a dry stone wall? Usually not for a garden wall, but height limits apply next to highways, and additional rules apply in conservation areas and around listed buildings. We can advise on what applies to your site as part of the quotation.
Do you supply the stone? Yes. For new walls we source Cotswold stone from local quarries; for repairs we can supply weathered reclaimed stone matched to your existing wall.
