How to build a drystone wall

Filmed in the Yorkshire Dales. This guide draws on “Building a Dry Stone Wall in the Yorkshire Dales” by PrimeLight Films, showing a working repair to a traditional boundary wall on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is a genuinely useful watch for anyone wanting to understand how a properly built drystone wall is structured from the ground up — the sort of detail that is hard to pick up from photographs alone.

1. Source the right stone

The stone you use matters. For a proper drystone wall, you want local stone where possible — limestone in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, sandstone and slate in other regions. Local stone has been through the same freeze-thaw cycles as your garden and will behave accordingly.

You need a mixture of sizes: large flat foundation stones for the base, medium facing stones for the main body of the wall, smaller hearting stones (rubble fill) for the middle, and flat throughstones to tie the two faces together. Coping stones go on top. Buying a mixed load from a reclamation yard usually gives you a workable spread to start with.

2. Mark out and excavate the foundation

Use pegs and string to mark the line of the wall. A traditional drystone wall tapers as it rises — it is wider at the base than the top. Plan for a base width roughly double the finished height for a low garden wall. For example, a wall 600 mm high should start around 600 mm wide at the base.

Excavate a shallow foundation trench, about 150 to 200 mm deep, removing turf and topsoil. You want to build on firm subsoil, not soft vegetable matter that will settle unevenly.

3. Lay the foundation course

Select your biggest, flattest stones for the base. Lay two parallel rows, one for each face of the wall, with the flat side facing outward. Fill the gap between them with compacted smaller stones. The foundation course should be completely solid before you build upward — any movement here will ripple through the whole wall.

Check the level regularly. If the ground slopes along the wall’s length, step the foundation courses rather than trying to taper them — steps look tidy and handle the change in level far better.

4. Build up the courses, crossing joints as you go

The golden rule is one stone over two and two stones over one. That means each stone should bridge the joint below it, so vertical cracks never run straight up through the wall. A wall built with continuous vertical joints will fail. It is only a matter of when.

As you build, keep a slight inward lean (the “batter”) to each face — thinner at the top than the bottom. A batter frame is useful: two vertical posts at each end with strings tied at the correct angles, giving you a sighting guide as you work. Without it, walls have a habit of creeping outright as you build upward without noticing.

5. Pack the middle with hearting

As you build each course of facing stones, fill the cavity in the middle with smaller stones packed tightly. This hearting is not just rubble — it is load-bearing fill that locks everything together. Loose or poorly packed hearting is one of the main reasons walls collapse.

Use a hammer to shape stones that do not fit well. Every stone should sit solidly, without rocking. A stone that rocks is only waiting for a good frost to dislodge it.

6. Place throughstones at regular intervals

At roughly every 600 mm of height, lay throughstones — large flat stones that extend all the way through the wall from face to face. They tie both sides together and add enormous stability. Traditional walls have at least two rows of throughstones, one at mid-height and one near the top.

Throughstones should be long enough to project slightly beyond both faces. That projection is part of the visual character of a well-built wall and also shows you where they are if you ever need to repair it.

7. Finish with coping stones

Coping stones are the top course and protect the wall from rain getting in. They are traditionally set on edge rather than flat, which sheds water efficiently and adds height. Set them tightly together, with each stone wedged against its neighbours for stability.

That said, flat cope or rounded cam stones are used in some regions — match the style of traditional walls in your area if authenticity matters to you. Whatever the style, the coping should be firmly set. It is the most exposed part of the wall and the first thing to shift in a storm.

When to call a handyman

Drystone walling is skilled, physical work, and a significant wall takes time. Richard can help with smaller garden wall repairs, clearing collapsed sections, sourcing suitable stone locally, or advising on whether a mortar alternative might be more practical for a particular garden situation. For a longer traditional boundary wall, a specialist dry stone waller is worth bringing in.