Many dry stone walls within the Lake District were erected by way of clearing the land for cultivation. Some walls were constructed in the 18th and 19th Century but a great number date back to the time of the Norman kings of England (1066 - 1485)
William of Normandy slowly changed the landscape of England after winning the fight for the throne in 1066. Walls built without the use of mortar were part of that change. As were Castles, fortified towers, religious structures and Royal Hunting Forests.
A dry stone wall collapsed in my garden a few days ago. Width x 80 cm (2.5 feet) Height x 140 cm (4.5 feet). This exceptionally wide wall has left a large scar. The winter's weather - frost, snow wind, rain and now sunshine - has taken its toll.
Stone walls dominate the landscape of Cumbria. They also reflect the geology of the area. Many buildings, also, are constructed with rock extracted from the surrounding fields.
On Christmas Day, 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned the first Norman King of England in Westminster Abbey, London. French became the language of the King's court and gradually blended with the Anglo-Saxon tongue to give birth to modern English.
The plan to create Royal Forests was established after King Harold of England was defeated by William of Normandy on the 14th October, 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. The conflict saw the death of thousands on a hilltop, and the valley below, just seven miles from the town of Hastings.
The views from my garden include the slopes of Gowbarrow and Glencoyne Park, both enclosed by the Normans as a single Deer Park.
King William I and his Lords wished to conserve hunting grounds. The prime forests or wastes were walled in and managed as parkland. Fallow deer introduced into Britain by the Normans, were the main parkland deer. Today roe deer are more common and the most likely to be seen.
Deer Parks still exist in Cumbria's country estates - Holker Hall, is one in the south. Close to my home, in the north, is Dalemain. The gardens at Dalemain are probably some of the oldest in the region. The house and grounds go back to at least 1156 when the de Morville family built a fortified tower (pele tower).
The Great Barn, Dalemain, now houses the Fell Pony Museum
Just 8 miles further north a stone deer wall, 305 cm (ten feet) high, surrounds Greystoke Castle. The 3000 acre estate rises to 365 metres (1200 feet) above sea-level. The castle dates back almost a thousand years, but was largely destroyed in 1660 by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War.
Greystoke Castle rebuilt but destroyed again by fire in 1868
The second largest hunting forest in England, the Royal Forest of Inglewood, stretched from south of the Solway Firth, a huge bay dividing the county of Cumbria and Scotland, south east to the town of Penrith. The house at Hutton in the Forest is on the site of the de Huyton family home. They were protectors for the King of the Royal Forest of Inglewood.
Hutton in the Forest and Walled Garden
Surrounded by woodland of the medieval forest of Inglewood the beautiful walled garden was built in the 1730s and is a wonderful setting for a collection of herbaceous plants. The topiary terraces around the house were laid out in the 17th Century and are the foundation for a Victorian woodland garden and a 17th century dovecote.
Today hard landscaping plays an important part in garden design. Patios, walls and buildings are an intrinsic part of the backdrop to the garden plan. Since the time of Norman kings the local stone has had a role to play in the precincts of houses, castles and religious buildings. The dressed stone left by the Romans and the boulders extracted from fields have all been used. The Lake District National Park and the County of Cumbria have astonishing examples of how to recycle, remodel and reuse local rock or minerals to develop unique, breath taking panoramas.
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