View of Groton Connecticut in 1838. From J. W. Barber's Connecticut Historical Collections

Preservation - Introduction

WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE PICTURE?

Strip-mining! That's what.

This truck travels frequently up and down Highway 195 in Mansfield CT, right through the heart of the University of Connecticut. The SWI coordinator sees these trucks as he walks to his office. Back of truck says "We buy stone walls."

The driver probably doesn't know that the University's beloved former president, Homer Babbidge, had students build walls :

For beauty's sake.
To help delimit land as part of social necessity, and, in his own words,
"as a reminder of the monumental labors of our forebears."

THE MAIN QUESTION

Why should we let the availability of heavy machinery and petroleum undo the work of the past? Since when is the conversion of archaeology into architecture a good thing?

See below for

THREATS
MANAGEMENT
CONSERVATION MANUAL
MAKING NEW WALLS LOOK OLD

THREATS

There are several major threats to New England stone walls.

Strip-Mining -- Most damaging is the legal, wholescale strip-mining of New England's abandoned stone walls from old farm properties, followed by their commercial sale. This activity fails to take into account that abandoned stone walls are both habitat and cultural ruin. This means the transfer from old woods to new properties is also the transfer of archaeology into architecture. This typically occurs on properties that are land rich, house poor, such as the inland rural areas away from cities.

Theft -- Stone walls are being stolen stone by stone, layer by layer. Often the capstones go missing. In some places, however, entire walls are stolen wihout the owners permission. In others, it is rumored that dumpsters are filled at night.

Insensitivity -- Owners of old walls may damage them with multiple breaks and cuts, some of which are unnecessary.

New Walls -- The biggest problem in districts that are house rich but land poor (Greenwich, CT and Lexington, MA are good examples). The problem is that massive new walls are being constructed in a way that is judged ugly or out of place by long-term residents who are invested in what properties look like. Usually such walls do not follow the local folk art style, being excessively ornate; for example with portholes or turrets.

Overgrowth -- In the woodland where the forest canopy has developed, walls have that familiar abandoned look. When the land is cleared and exposed to sunlight, however, such as along new roadsides and driveways, the walls develop overgrowths of plants and vines. In this case, the old wall is being exposed to a breakdown threat that didn't exist before; a decision must be made to keep the wall clear of growth or not.

TWO TRADITIONS

Lots of people have asked Professor Thorson whether it is better to leave old walls alone to decay or whethe it is best ot maintain them in their "present" form. There is no good answer, except those that are based on respect for either of two situations. Basically, there are two traditions that can be honored.

One is to honor the living by maintaining and managing the walls left us by our colonial forebearers, and to do so by keeping them from being hidden by ivy and invasives and brought down by an invasive vegetation that would have been unusual in an agrarian landscape. This is best served for laid walls along visible roads.

The other tradition is to honor the dead by respecting cellar holes and old stone walls as ruins best left alone to speak the messages they speak. This is best served for abandoned walls on interiior woodllands.

MANAGEMENT

Effective management of stone walls as a cultural resource requires taking several steps.

Rationale -- One must first understand the rationale for preserving or conserving stone walls as part of a cultural commons. The big irony here is that the walls developed in response to the management of private property, yet have since become a cultural commons.

Stakeholders -- One must realize that we are all in this together. Each of us is one or more of the stakeholders in the issue.

Regulations -- These should come from the bottom up, i.e. a grass roots effort. A group can choose to implement whatever regulations best suits their local needs: easements, ordinances, recommendations, or whatever. This lnk contains an example.

Inventory -- To manage a resource, one must know what is there. To make this as simple as possible, we recommend using a sorting process called the Snowplow Typology, which divides the stone wall resource into three easily-recognized types: abandoned, heritage, and recent & rebuilt walls. This method is simple enough to be done while snowplowing. Hence, local governments cannot claim to not have the experience.

Recommendations -- is to develop some strategies for managing the resource. We recommend a simple method based on the Snowplow Typology.

Inspiration -- Here is a letter that capitalizes on what Harwinton, in Litchfield, CT has done. The SWI is making several articles available to help inspire other towns to follow their example.

MANUAL FOR CONSERVATION

Mary Everett, a graduate student in the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Massachusetts has produced the first regional Handbook for the Preservation of New England's Dry Stone Walls.

Contact author Mary Everett by Email.

MAKING NEW WALLS LOOK OLD

A critical conservation issue is for builders of new walls to use new material (from rock quarries or underground excavations) rather than old weathered wall stone, which is preferred for aesthetic reasons.

Link here to a not-so-folk recipe for giving new stone that time-tarnished look.