There are four main issues to be considered if you have dry stone walls on your land:

• maintenance
• legal issues
• good practice
• funding

Maintenance

Dry stone walls are made without the use of mortar or cement. Some simple measures will help keep these walls in good condition.

Any damage to walls should be repaired as soon as it happens. If left, it will get worse and the cost of repair will increase.

Coping stones should be replaced as soon as they fall off to maintain the strength of the wall and prevent any deterioration.

Where possible, walls should be repaired using stone from local quarries. This helps to maintain the distinct character of the countryside.

You should check the condition of walls at least once a year and any vegetation should be removed. This ‘airs’ the wall and helps to prevent frost damage.

Care should also be taken that ivy does not destabilise a wall and if present it should be removed so the wall is not weakened.

Trees should not be allowed to grow next to walls because their roots can weaken wall foundations.

Uncultivated strips of land running alongside walls are important habitats for wildlife, acting as ‘wildlife corridors’.

Walls that have gaps or are slumped and unstable can be restored using traditional techniques.

Technical advice about maintenance is available from the Dry Stone Walling Association, which also keeps a register of certified working wallers.

A separate Guide to Dry Stone Walling is published by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.

Legal issues

Unlike hedgerows, there is no general legal protection for dry stone walls. But some walls fall under the jurisdiction of other legislation due to their location.

In addition, the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 may apply to bank walls which have a hedgerow on top.

You should also be aware the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 may provide some additional protection for field boundaries and wildlife habitats, which may include a dry stone wall, may be protected by designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 may offer protection if a conservation area or listed building includes a stone wall.

Good practice

If you receive the Single Payment you are required to keep dry stone walls in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC). Particular attention should be paid to GAEC 13, as laid out in the Cross Compliance Handbook for England.

This prohibits the removal of stone walls from farmland. In addition, stones must not be removed from walls, except under strict circumstances.

Exemptions include the need to widen an existing gap in a wall to allow machinery or livestock access. If this is required, no more stone than necessary must be removed and the gap should be no wider than 10 metres.

Newly created wall-ends must be built and maintained to a vertical-face finish.

Stone may also be removed if it is used to repair another stone wall which is in a better condition on the same holding, or to repair a public footpath.

Farmers who wish to remove stone for any other reason, widen a gap to over 10 metres or remove a wall must contact the Rural Payments Agency (Tel: 0845 603 7777)

Funding

The government’s Environmental Stewardship scheme includes a number of management options for dry stone walls.

Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) option EB11 and Uplands ELS option UB11 encourage Dry Stone Wall Protection and Maintenance in return for 15 points per 100 metres (ELS) and 32 points per 100 metres (Uplands ELS).

Only dry stone walls which you have direct management control of can be included in these options.

Furthermore, they can only apply to complete walls or complete sections of walls (i.e. walls still at their original height and with coping stones in place).

The wall must be protected from deterioration. Any gaps which occur during the course of the agreement must be regularly repaired.

All repair and maintenance work must be carried out using traditional materials following the style characteristic to the local landscape.

In situ stone must not be removed from walls.

Uplands ELS option UB17  (30 points per metre) is available for land in the Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA) for stone wall restoration.

This option aims to retain and enhance the pattern of enclosure by stone walls where they are a characteristic of the local landscape. It is available for walls that require major rebuilding, where sections of wall are unstable and may collapse and/or where sections of wall have slumped.

Within field walls, such as sheep folds are also eligible. You must have management control of both sides of the stone wall.

Further information is available in the ELS Handbook. Organic farmers should refer to the Organic Entry Level Stewardship Handbook.

For the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme, a Farm Environment Plan must be carried out to assess the condition of landscape features.

The method for carrying out a Condition Assessment for Stone Walls (F07) is contained in the Farm Environment Plan.

This will then help to determine a suitable level of management which could be achieved through the HLS scheme.

Further guidance regarding the scheme is available in the HLS Handbook.

Further information

• Defra helpline – 08459 33 55 77
• Dry Stone Walling Association – 01539 567963