Stone WallingIntroduction for Stonemasons

Stonemasonry Department 2012

Ashlar Walling

Ashlar walling is the term given to dressed stone walls which are either

completely plane or plane with chamfered edges. It is generally used

only on the “seen” facades of a structure due to its high costs. 

Coursed Rubble Walling

Coursed rubble walling is the simplest of all rubble walls as all stones

on each course have identical bed heights. The bed heights can

however differ on each course. 

Snecked Rubble Walling

Square and Sneck rubble consists of three stones; the riser, the leveller

and the sneck. This is a particularly stable form of rubble walling as

the stones are interlocked horizontally and vertically. 

Random Rubble Walling

Random rubble walling consists of a number of stones of random

length, height and width arranged in a loosely defined bonding

pattern. The style of this walling varies throughout the world. 

Random Rubble Built to Courses

This style of walling combines coursed and random rubble as the stone

is built to a specified course height every 3-5 courses. Although not as

structurally strong as random rubble, it provides long horizontal beds

which define course heights. 

Broken Coursed Rubble

Broken course rubble combines random rubble with snecked rubble

where smaller stones are combined to make the height of the risers

(or jumpers).  

Polygonal Rubble

Polygonal rubble is a complex form of random rubble where stones are

individually dressed to interlock with surrounding stones, leaving

uniformly sized beds and joints. 

Cladding

Cladding is the process of facing an existing backing wall with thin leafs

of stone, supported by a fixing system. This type of walling has become

increasingly popular as it is low cost and quick to install. 

Gabions

Gabions are essentially large mesh cages which are filled with rubble

to provide the appearance of random rubble. The cages can interlock

both horizontally and vertically and are commonly used as retaining

walls. 

Dry Stone Walling

Dry stone walling consists of a number of stones bonded without the

use of mortar. Each stone is carefully selected to fit surrounding stones

with the wall being bonded by through stones and header stones. 

Flint Walling

Flint walling is commonly found in the South of England where good

quality building stones were not readily available. It consists of

knapped or unknapped flint separated by large irregular beds and

joints. 

Developed by The Stonemasonry DepartmentCity of Glasgow College

2012