Stone walling was the other major means of defining field boundaries and controlling stock in the English parliamentary enclosure rural landscape. Used where there was an abundance of stone these walls also became a major visual element in these landscapes.
As in England it was the abundance of stone that
largely determined the distribution of dry stone
walls in Tasmania. While requiring skilled labour
in their construction dry stone walls had the
advantage over hedgerows of occupying less
space and requiring less annual maintenance.
In
some areas they also provided a use for stone
removed from the field.
In Tasmania another distinctive variant of stone walls were stone and paling fences. these involved less labour and stone working skill than dry stone walls but provided a use for stones removed from paddocks.
While stone walls are by no means as common as hawthorn hedgerows in Tasmania they are significant landscape elements in some parts of state.
As in Britain the appearance of the stone walls reflects the type of stone used with sandstone being commonly used around Oatlands, dolerite around Swansea and basalt around Deloraine.
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