Manual for Stone Wall Inventory

Historic engraving of Groton Stone Walls in 1836.

Historic engraving of Groton, CT from Jonathan Warner Barber’s Connecticut Historic Collections (1836) showing the shoreline, a rock outcrop, complete deforestation, and rectangular pattern of stone walls. Because he worked to capture the scene as with a photograph, such images provide a minimum age for stone walls that remain today.  In other words, those shown predate 1836. Those not shown postdate 1836.


On  June  9, 2025, I released Version 1.1 of my new Manual for the Inventory and Description of Stone Walls. Based on comments received, I hereby update this to Version 1.2 dated June 14, 2025.  The earlier version emerged from a 3-part program I was offering during the spring of 2025 to town planners, land trusts,  historical societies, and garden clubs, a: (1) Roundtable Discussion with key players to discuss how to proceed in this case;  (2) Training Walk to demonstrate how to classify and describe walls and features; and (3) Public Lecture explaining why stone walls matter.  The results were so encouraging that I decided to share a working draft of them in writing that summarized what I had been sharing in presentations.

This working draft is titled Manual for the Inventory and Description of Stone Walls.  Use this link, or go to the top pull-down menu under Resources.