Building Toward Level 3: Advanced Dry Stone Certification at Cousins River Preserve

I'm planning to build a stone wall at Cousins River Preserve in Yarmouth. I won't be getting paid. There is no client. I'm building it for myself. It's not as selfish as it sounds: I'm building it because I love this craft and want to keep getting better at it.

Certification

This wall will be part of my Level 3 certification with The Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain (DSWA-GB). What is that, you might be asking, and, more importantly, why should you care?

You don't need to be certified to build a dry stone wall. We're not plumbers or electricians. But those of us who take the craft seriously tend to gravitate toward this certification process because we want to keep improving our work.

The DSWA-GB established its certification program to preserve and standardize the ancient craft of building walls without mortar. These techniques date back thousands of years, and the DSWA-GB system ensures that traditional methods and structural principles are passed down accurately.

In the United States, The Stone Trust administers DSWA-GB certifications and promotes the craft through education, training, and professional standards. If you're a stone nerd like me, you'll definitely want to learn more about The Stone Trust. It's the mecca of dry stone walling in the United States.

The certification scheme is simple: Levels 1 through 4. I earned my Level 2 certification in 2020, and the wall I plan to build at Cousins River Preserve will help me reach Level 3.

What I Need to Build

I'll be building a curved wall that incorporates a lunky - a small opening intentionally built into the base of a wall to allow water or animals to pass through. It's a straightforward build, but when it's done, I'll have to pay for examiners to come from New England and the UK to go over the wall with a fine-tooth comb looking for mistakes.

Why Build It at Cousins River Preserve

Most people going for their Level 3 either build their wall at home or at a training center in the UK. It's actually less expensive to fly to the UK and build at a training site with existing stone than to buy all your own stone here in the States and build on your own dime.

But if I'm going to go through all the work of building this wall, I'd like to do it in a place where people can watch the process and experience the finished project. I'm grateful Maine Coast Heritage Trust accepted my offer to build them a wall on one of their properties.

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Below are renderings of what the Level 3 feature wall will look like on site.