Walk through New Hampshire’s woods and you’ll find long runs of stone wall that seem out of place among the trees. In Plaistow, a local program called “Discovering New England Stone Walls” put those walls in context, asking the basic questions that still matter for anyone working around historic stonework, where they came from, why they were built, and who did the stacking.
The presentation, held Saturday morning at the Plaistow Public Library, featured Kevin Gardner, author of The Granite Kiss. Gardner focused on the farmers who built many of the region’s stone walls, first as a practical way to clear fields for farming, and later as boundaries that helped keep livestock where it belonged.
For the masonry industry, these walls sit at the intersection of craft, preservation, and the built environment. They’re reminders that stonework is not only about appearance. It’s also about function, land use, and long-term durability that can outlast the landscape that produced it.
For mason contractors and crews who get asked to evaluate older stone walls on private property or near public trails, the history in Gardner’s talk is a useful starting point. The purpose of the wall matters. A wall built to clear fields is a different story than a wall meant to manage animals, property lines, or later land uses. Understanding that intent helps frame the conversation about what “repair” means, and what kind of work respects the original layout.
Read the full, original article from Caledonian Record (subscription required at source) here.