Gray rock fences built of ancient limestone are hallmarks of Kentucky's Bluegrass landscape. Why did Kentucky farmers turn to rock as fence-building material when most had earlier used hardwood rails? Who were the masons responsible for Kentucky's lovely rock fences and what are the different rock forms used in this region? In this generously illustrated book, Carolyn Murray. In Central Kentucky, dry stone masonry is woven into the landscape and identity of horse country.
Stone fences line nearly every rural road in Fayette County and the surrounding counties. The Dry Stone Conservancy is dedicated to preserving stone fences and structures, not only in Kentucky but across the country. Gerrow says he's worked on dry laid stone masonry projects in some pretty interesting places.
Stone fences played a crucial role in the development of agriculture in Kentucky by providing essential boundaries and enclosures for farmland. These dry-laid rock fences, constructed without mortar, were a significant agricultural improvement in the region. Central Kentucky's Legendary Rock Fences Central Kentucky is world famous for Thoroughbred horses and endless miles of rock fences (Dry stone walls).
There are more rock fences here than any place in the USA. In Central Kentucky only 5 -10% of these 19th century rock fences built by Irish Immigrant stonemasons still stand. Dry stone masonry is an ancient building tradition and occurs wherever rock is available and the craft tradition is known.
Kentucky rock fences are a distinct style of folk architecture, locally called "rock fences" even though they are mostly built of quarried "stone." They are built entirely without mortar, using the forces of friction and gravity to hold them together. The. The development of concrete in the early 1900s effectively closed the chapter on rock fences - but their legend and beauty live on in central Kentucky.
More than two centuries after being laid, miles and miles of dry stone fences still stand. Colloquially called rock fences, not stone walls, they are traditionally-built freestanding walls with a front and back face, packing in the center and a batter on both sides. A top layer of vertically-placed coping stones is also a hallmark of Scottish, Irish and Kentucky drystone fences.
Jane offers three purposes for copings in Kentucky. These same limestones were, with effort and expense, quarried to provide fence material. Two themes guide this study of central Kentucky's rock fences.
First, these fences are a significant part of the state's distinctive Bluegrass landscape created by the interplay of the physical environment, culture, and technology over. A thorough study of the history, builders, and evolution of Kentucky (and Tennessee) rock fences, with many photographs and a section of color plates. 220-page hardback.
By Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Raitz. University Press of Kentucky, 1992.