Master Classes – The Stone Trust

Posted on July 17, 2021July 19, 2021 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

Master Class: Fat Tony and the Art of Coursing, Part 2

Part 1 ended with the promise that “Fat Tony” would finally make an appearance here-in. Before he does we need to first look at some of the issues that can occur with jointing within a coursed wall

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Tom Hutten

Master Class: Fat Tony and the Art of Coursing, Part 1

Working with slate is not my favourite type of walling. Those not familiar with this specific walling medium seem to think that it should be easy nice flat brick shaped stones… This is of course far from the truth, nothing in walling is that straightforward. -Sean Adcock

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

Master Class: Building For Success, Part 2

Master Class: Building for Success, Part 1

Sketches and Text by Brian Post Building with Correct Line and Batter Line refers to the horizontal straightness of the wall. Batter refers to the angle of the faces of the wall from vertical. Many level 2 testers struggle immensely with getting the line and batter correct while working under the time pressure of the…

Posted on April 30, 2021May 13, 2021 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

Master Class: Building For Success, Part 1

Sketches and Text by Brian Post Leaping the Level 2 Hurdle The level 2 (intermediate) DSWA-GB certification test has proven to be quite difficult for many wallers who have passed level 1 (initial) certification. Level 2 aims to challenge your ability to make good choices, plan ahead, and build with correct line and batter. In…

Posted on February 1, 2021February 4, 2021 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

Master Class: Bee Hotels & Bee Boles

Bee Hotels At the request of a Scott Farm orchardist, Master Craftsman Jared Flynn built this bee hotel into this feature wall in the Stone Trust Wall Park. Bee hotels are built as nesting space for solitary bees. Solitary bees don’t form hives like honeybees; each bee is the worker, the queen, and the protector…

Posted on December 14, 2020December 16, 2020 by Theresa Spear

Master Class: Cloddiau

One of the major misconceptions people hold about clawdd construction is that it is particularly difficult to course the stone. Compared to coursing a dry stone wall it is really easy.

Posted on November 19, 2020November 25, 2020 by Theresa Spear

Master Class: Throughs

A throughstone is, as its name suggests, a stone which completely traverses the width of a wall. Its function being to tie the two faces of the wall together and to distribute the weight of the wall above them more evenly to the wall below. In North Wales they are set flush with face of…

Posted on October 22, 2020October 30, 2020 by Theresa Spear

Master Class: Hearting

The first principle with hearting is that you should aim to use one stone per gap/void. This is of course not always practical! This does not mean you shouldn’t aim for it and so if you can’t use one stone then use as few as possible. This in turn means if you have a big…

Posted on September 28, 2020September 29, 2020 by Theresa Spear

Polygonal Masonry

Whilst polygonal walls are a feature of a number of Mediterranean countries, perhaps the most famous polygonal walls are the Inca walls of Peru, of Machu Picchu, Cuzco and llantaytambo. These walls take `tightness` to extremes, as can be seen from the cover photo of the famous ”12 sided stone of Hatunrumiyoc” in the wall…

Posted on August 26, 2020August 26, 2020 by Theresa Spear

Master Class: Arcane Walling – Globes and Vases/Urns

The content below was copied with the generous permission of the author Sean Adcock. This Master Class article originally appeared in the Autumn 2008 issue of Stonechat, produced by the North Wales Branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Brittan. This entire issue of Stonechat, and many more, are available at http://www.dswales.org.uk/Stonechat.html Thank…

Category: Master Classes