Walls of Stone: How to Build Drystone Walls and Rock Fences 

This is the most complete dry stack instructional video on RU-vid. Trust me, I've looked.

This is the definitive dry stone wall you tube video, i dont think it can be beaten. #1

I Love the people that did all that work for us to enjoy. Thank you.

We have these in Croatia. I inherited some land and all the gardens are separated with these dry walls. I always wanted to learn how to make them, but since no one cares anymore and all the old people are dead no one could teach me. Thank you for this

im a dry stone waller in the cotwolds mainly gloucestershire. theres a few things done wrong in this video in my opinion. when you lay your stones the back of the stones on the inside of the wall should be slightly higher than the front so water can run out not in. there should be no pins under the footing stones they should sit completely flat on the ground. there should be no pins on the outside of the wall and the through stone should run flush with the wall not overhang 2 to 4 inches

This video should be preserved forever. Let us not lose this wisdom.

4:46 Terminology 5:14 Principles 7:03 Equipment and Safety 9:11 Preparation 11:13 Foundation 12:00 Foundation Course 16:12 A-Frames 18:00 Lower Courses 22:00 Wallhead 24:40 Throughs 26:56 Upper Courses 29:09 Cover Course 30:20 Coping 35:34 Summary

I had no idea I needed to know how to lay a dry stone wall, but here we are. Great video with well laid out information. (See what I did there) Thank you for posting!

Did that ever come out looking great!! It is amazing that he got all these guys together to do this and they probably did it for free to learn how, which is really awesome for everybody. I congratulate all that came together to make this wall and learn it. This is a great video! It is very well done, and even the mistakes are fine, because we the viewers learned through these guy's mistakes, and I think it is really powerful to see someone causing problems in real time. It's like we already learned from that guy's mistakes. Really top notch video. The teacher is really superb. What a great atmosphere. The two guys at the end were funny.

After I got back from my Scotland/Ireland trip, I wanted to build one of these walls! Your video made it much easier (brain wise). My husband and I are almost ready to put our cover stones on today! It's been a labor of love and patience, but after a couple months of gathering rocks, prepping the ground, and building course by course we are almost there! Hubby helped gather the rocks, but I have been the wall builder. That is why it has taken so long. I could probably arm wrestle any of you and win! Thank you!

I have always loved working with stones and building things with them. My ‘altar’ has many little stones from different parts of the world, a way to immediately connect with those parts of the world. This video was brilliant in its step by step clarity and thoroughness! Thank you to all who helped bing it forth to the world!! I have posted it on my fb page too now.

All of us could grow to be a boss/teacher by the model of the man in this.

Just decided to randomly try and make a small shelter like this in the canyon lands. This video helps a lot.

Best wall video on RU-vid, hands down. Good crew. Nicely done everyone! I now can do my project with confidence.

I have loved these walls all my life and always wondered how they survived .... Now i have a greater understanding of how structurally sound and strong they truly are .. This is truly a labor of love ... I am so grateful this type of restoration is being done here in America. We Americans have lost great Handmade skills due to modernization .... Thank you ever so much for creating and posting this video ...

your opinion is completly correct, i was born and raised in south gloucestershire, i went to collage for four years to lern the stonemasonry trade. i've been working in switzerland as a stonemason for the last 8 years. in my opinion, one must check the A-frames after tying the string and every morning before starting work because they may have moved. your messurement markers or messuring instruments must be checked regulary.

Wow, this was one of the best and informative videos I've seen! i wish they all were like this- in such detail:)

Most amazing, simple, complete, educative video about this topic...and made with incredible knowledge! Thank you very very much!

I always take the time to stop and admire dry stacking, I've once seen a dry stack foundation in a friend's house, absolutely incredible.

By far, one of the better dry stone Masonry video's i have watched.

Awesome video. Glad to have it for reference. Excellent instruction throughout.

FANTASTIC!!!!!! I’ve been looking for a video like this for a LONG time!! Perfection!! I’m off to build now. THANK YOU!!!!

Thanks for posting this. Now if only I could find work doing this for a good wage in Northern California.

Such a thing of wonder and natural beauty. I love the relationship between all the stones. Great job!

Excellent video - the best I have seen so far on building a dry stone wall. Well done all!

I LOVE IT! Thank you for posting this VERY valuable information! I have had interest my entire life in anything built with stone, especially walls. I hope one day to have property where I can do a project like this!

Invaluable instruction, deeply appreciated. I have many old deteriorating stone walls on my property but none of such quality or enduring nature. I have always admired the craftsmanship in a well built stone wall.

Absolutely fantastic video and so educational! Hands down best dry stone Walling video out there

A very good educational video on stone walling. I feel like I could have a crack at building one with a fair amount of success after watching this.👍

Great tutorial! Absolutely beautiful stone walls.

great training video for making my own wall in Tasmania. thanks for uploading

Exactly what I was looking for. This has literally taught me the foundation / building blocks to venture into my yard and attempt my own wall. Thank you!!

Thanks very much for the play-by-play, hands on instructional. Excellent stuff.

Farmers would find rocka on their fields and throw them on the edges . When they had too many, they built a wall. Taller and taller, protecting the soil from blowing away and more. Used to love driving on ibiza along 5 ft tall walls.

Beautiful, you can see the honest work! Golden hands and art.

Thank you so much for this beautifull video and great tutorial. The information I was hoping to find for a little while was presented to me in this calm and clear guided lesson.

This is a thorough instructional video and good knowledge to have especially in New England where stone walls are everywhere. I had to chuckle though. Your instructor was not wearing safety goggles as you made very clear their importance.

absolutely brilliant video.thankyou so much for uploading.more videos like these please

I envy that blocky flat sandstone.

Ay. A grand wall. Well built with care, knowledge and craftsmanship. I do like drystone walling; even better when you can stand back or pass by day after day, knowing you had a hand in its building. Which will remain a working part of the landscape and barring accidental damage, will not need repair in your lifetime.

Thank you for sharing this. I want to build a similar wall on my land in the Cook Island's.

Thank you for taking time to make such a well explained video.

Very useful and clear presentation. Well done.

Nice work. I like that you talk through every step. -educational too.

That's a beautiful wall, great work all of you! 👌

Really helpful and very well presented. Thank you.

Just superb! Thank you.

I've seen these all over Pa. farm country as a kid and wonder how they survived so long- one is in St David's cemetery that has tombstones marked from the mid 1600's. One day I got so curious I tried to take some of the stones apart and couldn't budge ANY OF THEM! So here we are 60 years later and I now know why!

Now that was absolutely wonderful. Thank you very much.

The best and most informing vid on utube thank you nice work👍

Absolutely beautiful art!

Richard Tufnell is actually ENGLISH . He has built and help build dry wall all over the uk But yes its nice to see the brits helping americans build america :) Nerly evrywere in england you see these types of walls ... ireland and scotland too Mainly to keep sheep and cows in fields

Wow. I learned so much about this. Great tutorial!

Superb instructions! Superb video. Thank you 🙏🏻

what a great video. Just excellent for me preparing to build a wall...with an arch! Another video for that.

This may be a 10 yr old video but the process is timeless. The satisfaction and pride that would go along with accomplishing something like the work done in this episode is immeasurable.The rocks - $0.00, the end result - $ priceless. Goodonya boys. The closest I can get to this style of wall building is using demo'ed concrete flat-work. In my area there is a jr college campus built on fairly steep slopping terrain. A local landscaper/artist that designed and built all of the minor retention walls and incidental dividers using varying thicknesses of demolished concrete. Even though most of it is in the form of retaining walls, the end result is very similar in principle to the rock walls in this video and looks amazing.

Beautiful work and wonderfully educational. I cant wait to try to build some of my own walls!

Great instructional video. Good job.

Wow!!! Beautiful...What a great teaching!!

great work you guys, thats a beautiful wall

Watched the whole thing, what a beautiful effort.

I've been rebuilding a sandstone section from the advice on this video. One thing not mentioned, is how to build without the batterframes getting in the way. This happens when you start grafting your rebuild into the existing walling, or building your wallhead against a stone gatepost. I've found it best to make the batterframe so as your working dimensions relate to the inside faces of the frame, that way the frame stands proud of the wall, rather than interfering with it. If you use a wider piece at the top and add more screws, you shouldn't need the joining length at the bottom.

This is cool ,I've always wanted to know this process,and never ever dreamed of asking RU-vid,I live in central Indiana and there are many of these in need of repair

PHENOMENAL CONTENT MUCH RESPECT AND APPRECIATION

Thanx for vid! Great techniques and craftsmanship.

great job, thank you for making this video.

This film seems very retro in its style of presentation - - like it was made in the 70's or early 80's. The credits say 1996 but it seems older

Simply, awesome!

Great job I agree. Please let the viewers know that steel toe boots can damage your toes, so it's not mandatory. There are very strong boots for construction workers without the steel toe.

thank you ! well explained

Hello there. I'm retired now. I dry walled for 40 years or more. There's far to much batter on that wall. Being that little sheep like Herdwick breed would run up and over that wall. That is easy stone to build with being flat stuff. It's also easier to build walls in long lengths. Gap walling is the hardest to do. You are governed to what stone you have. It might be built of round stones. Originally out of a river or tream.

Outstanding quality educational video, so well done, thank you!

Many thanks for sharing this with us... ❤️

Fantastic and very-very useful !

Wonderful video!

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Excellent! Thank You.

Thanks for posting this video.

Good work and thank you for sharing

Really enjoyed this!!

Thank you for posting this.

Awesome video!

Wonderful job!

Thank you!!!

Makes me wish I had watched this before we had a small drystone wall built on our suburban block around 10 years ago. The builder was an experienced stonemason with UK and Australian experience but perhaps the spalls he was supplied and other constraints resulted in some issues with the wall identified in the video as risks associated with certain practices. At least I now know why things have moved & how to correct them. Great video

Fantastic instruction.

Thank you, Mr Tufnell

Great video!

Excellent video.

Bravo à l'équipe d'apprenants et bien sûr au maître des pierres. Le savoir-faire doit être préservé pour notre bien commun. En Europe, évidemment, les mêmes murs ont été bâtis et le paysage n'en est que plus beau! Hurray for American and European traditions and long life along the ages!

Very intresting and brilliant to watch

This is SO cool!

Xcellent instruction.

As well made as it was informative. Many thanks.

Thanks for sharing this video

really useful

Good video. This art requires a lot of patience.

Thanks John

Superb video!

Great job guy's.