Conservation Handbook

Fieldstone wall above ledge, Boothbay Harbor, ME.

Note: Permission to announce the handbook and the abstract were provided by the atuhor, Mary Everett during the summer of 2005.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Issues involving conservation are among the most frequently asked questions of the SWI. Though many towns and adminstrative units are promulgating their own regulations, Mary Everett has produced what may be the first professional handbook on the subject. The handbook resulted from the requirement that all graduate students in theh Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst complete and defend a project. Mary was supervised by Professor Ethan Carr. She also corresponded with the SWI and met with its coordinator, Robert Thorson during the spring of 2005.

SELECTED CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1 - What is happening to them?
• CHAPTER 2 - Archaeology and the Law
• CHAPTER 3 - Other Contributors and Considerations
• SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• APPENDICES (including sample laws and regulations)

ABSTRACT

A PRELIMINARY HANDBOOK FOR THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGLAND’S DRY STONE WALLS

Mary Krochmalny Everett, MLA, May, 2005, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning, Directed by:  Professor Ethan Carr

Stone structures built by our predecessors are at the intersection of geology, landscape, history, craft, archeology, and art, and they are in jeopardy. This Preliminary Handbook will introduce the general origins of dry stone remnants, what they have become, and methods and strategies drawn from many different disciplines that are being used for their conservation.  These methods could be distilled into a more concise handbook in the future, related to wall context.  The role that landscape architects have in the sensitive treatment of remaining stone walls is examined, and resources provided to that end.  Literature and current internet content has been consulted and synthesized along with other resource materials that include federal, state and town laws and regulations, as well as interviews conducted with government officials and nonprofit organizations. The results indicate that there is a growing concern among advocates and scholars that the integrity and future of New England’s most telling landscape feature is vulnerable, but there are creative measures being used and explored to protect them.  They merit further research, and deserve preservation, as does the craft that built them.  An important aspect of their preservation is the cultivation among the general public of intellectual and emotional connections to them as meaningful, significant cultural resources. 

REVIEWING A COPY

Contact the Stone Wall Initiative

OBTAINING A COPY

Contact Mary Everett

EMAIL: mk.everett@verizon.net

SURFACE: 1 Old Amherst Road, Sunderland, MA 01375

PHONE: 413-665-7331