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Restoration of the Dry Stone Walls
in the Chalford Area
Location: Gloucestershire
The drystone walls of Gloucestershire villages at Chalford, Chalford Hill and France Lynch were the focus of a successful pilot project established to test the feasibility of the Local Heritage Initiative as a grant programme.
The walls were originally built, using local materials, to retain the hillside, and to mark property boundaries and rights of way. They are of great local importance because there are so many of them, and they give the area its unique character.
A group of local residents was concerned that these walls had suffered over the years through lack of maintenance. So they established themselves as a formal group, with a constitution and a bank account, specifically to carry out this LHI project.
The group surveyed the walls, many of which date from the 17th century, and used standard forms supported by photographs to record the very distinctive architectural features of the walls, and arranged for their survey to be archived in the County Records Office at Gloucester.
The survey identified a priority list of walls for repair and the next stage was to encourage property owners to take care of their own walls. As a result of the project 23 people attended training courses on drystone walling and 226 metres of 'demonstration' walling were restored and rebuilt.
Altogether, 19 grants were made to the owners of 316 metres of drystone walls, which have been restored by members of the community working alongside professional wallers under the training and supervision of a professional instructor.
Group Name |
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Chalford Village Walls Project |
| Project Contact |
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Nigel Paterson |
| Address |
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Chalford, Gloucestershire |
| Project Postcode |
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GL6 8EQ |
| Finishing Date |
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30/11/2001 |
| Grants: |
Heritage Lottery Fund: £11,660
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