Stone is the natural building material around Talgarth. Many cottages, farmhouses and outbuildings in this part of Powys are built from local sandstone in reds, browns and greys, and the boundary walls usually match. When a wall starts to lean or a gateway needs widening, the aim is almost always to make the new work look as if it has been there for years.
This guide covers what we look at when repairing or building stone walls and entrance gateways on Talgarth properties, from matching the stone to hanging a heavy gate. For the ground rules on footings, see our guide to garden wall foundations.
Reading an old wall before repairing it
Old stone walls fail slowly, and the cause is usually visible if you look closely. A bulge part way along often means water has got into the core and frost has pushed the face out. A lean along the whole length points to the ground or the footing. Loose stones along the top usually mean the coping has gone and rain is running straight into the wall.
Roots are another common culprit on rural plots. Ivy, elder and saplings seed themselves in the joints and slowly prise the stones apart, while a big tree close to a wall can lift it from below. We look for all of these before deciding whether a section can be repointed, needs taking down and rebuilding, or is sound enough to leave alone.
- Repointing suits a wall that is straight and solid but has lost mortar from the joints.
- Partial rebuild takes down a bulging or collapsed length and relays it with the same stone.
- New coping protects the top and stops water getting into the core.
Matching the stone and the mortar
A repair only looks right if the stone matches. The best source is the wall itself: stones from a collapsed section are cleaned and reused, and any shortfall is made up with reclaimed or new stone chosen for colour, size and texture. Laying them to follow the coursing of the old wall, whether that is neat courses or random rubble, is what makes the join disappear.
Many older walls around Talgarth were built with lime mortar rather than cement. Lime is softer and lets the wall breathe, so moisture can dry out through the joints rather than through the stone. Repointing an old lime wall with hard cement can trap water and speed up the damage, so we usually match like with like. Newer walls on modern foundations can be built with a suitable cement mortar, coloured to blend in.
Dry stone or mortared?
Out in the fields and along some lanes near Talgarth you will see dry stone walls, built with no mortar at all and held together by the careful placing of each stone. They work well on field boundaries and suit a rural garden edge, but they are wider at the base and take more stone than a mortared wall of the same height.
Closer to the house, a mortared wall gives a neater finish, can be built thinner and is better at carrying a gate or holding back soil. Many properties have both, and a wall that changes style at the garden gate often looks entirely natural. If the wall has to retain a bank, read when a retaining wall needs engineering advice before anything is built.
Gateways built for real use
A country gateway has to do more than look good. It might need to take a car, a trailer, a delivery lorry or a tractor, sometimes all in the same week. Before building piers, we measure what actually needs to come through and allow a comfortable margin, because a gateway that is a little too narrow gets clipped and damaged for years.
Visibility onto the lane matters as well. Setting the gateway back from the road, with the walls splayed out on either side, gives room to pull in off the lane and a better view both ways when pulling out. Any new or altered entrance onto a road should be checked with the council first, and in the national park with the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
Piers that can carry a heavy gate
A wide wooden field gate or a pair of oak driveway gates puts a lot of leverage on the pier it hangs from. A pier that looks solid can slowly twist and crack if it was not built for that load. Gate piers need a deep, wide foundation and, for heavier gates, a solid or reinforced core with the hinge fixings built in as the pier goes up.
Coping stones or caps finish the top and keep rain out of the core, which is especially important in the wet, frosty winters at the foot of the Black Mountains. For a gate on a slope, the hinges can be set so the gate rises as it opens and clears the ground. Our guide to choosing and fitting a garden gate covers the gate itself.
Rules, listed buildings and getting it priced
Some Talgarth properties are listed, and some sit in conservation areas, where even repairs to a boundary wall can need consent. New walls beside a road above a certain height can also need planning permission. We are landscapers rather than planners, so we always suggest checking with the national park authority or Powys County Council before work starts.
The cost of stone work depends on the length and height of the wall, how much can be reused, the type of stone, the foundations, access for deliveries and how much old material has to be taken away. Tony will look at all of this and give you a free quote. Stone walls often pair naturally with natural stone paving for a Talgarth cottage or with stock and boundary fencing on the longer runs.
See our brickwork and garden walls page for the range of walling we carry out, or our Talgarth landscaping page for everything else we do locally.
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Questions People Ask
Can you rebuild a collapsed stone wall with the same stone?
Usually, yes. We sort and clean the fallen stone, rebuild following the pattern of the original wall, and add matching stone where some has gone missing or broken.
Should an old stone wall be repointed with lime?
If it was built with lime mortar, repointing in lime is normally the right choice, as it lets the wall dry out. Hard cement on a lime wall can trap moisture and cause more damage over time.
How wide should a farm or driveway gateway be?
Wide enough for the largest vehicle that will realistically use it, with room to spare. We measure with you at the visit, because what needs to come through varies a lot from one property to the next.
Can you hang new gates on old stone piers?
Sometimes. If the piers are sound and big enough, new hinges can be fixed in. If they are cracked or too slender for the weight, it is better to rebuild them than to have the gate drop within a few years.
How do I arrange a visit?
Send us a message with photos of the wall or gateway. Tony will come and look, talk through the options and give you a free quote.