|
New England Stonewall
History
|
| What remains of a 19th century
animal pound in Gilmanton, NH |
| |
 |
| Using a rope, students recreated
a Gunther's chain that would be used to measure the
amount of stone necessary to build their wall. |
Most fences in early colonial Massachusetts
were a combination of stone and wood, usually reaching
four to five feet high. These stonewalls were dry, made
without mortar, as the limestone needed for the bonding
mortar was an extremely limited commodity. Any available
limestone was used either for house plaster or for restoring
soil.
Stone fences typically surrounded cemeteries,
cow pastures , farms, or animal pounds According to Allport,
by the early 1650’s the colony of Massachusetts had
already enacted legislation mandating farmers to build
fences to a minimum height to separate their livestock
from other farmers’ crops or a neighbor’s prized
livestock. Most towns in colonial Massachusetts had fence
requirements between four and five feet. To enforce these
regulations each town was to employ at least two “fence
viewers”. (for example, see the Town
Minutes in Sarah O’Shea’s research paper).
The responsibility of the fence viewer was to monitor
all fences in the community in regards to both height
and condition. Fines would be levied if the standards
were not maintained. Eventually, town pounds were built
for livestock that strayed onto other farmers’ properties.
The pound keeper set the fine to be paid before the offending
livestock could be “bailed out” to its owner.
In colonial Massachusetts all fence measurement
requirements were in units called “chains” or
“perches”. The term “chain” originated
from the surveying invention of Englishman Edmond Gunther
in 1620. Gunther’s chain is a predecessor of the
tape measure. The chain was sixty-six feet long, consisting
of 100 links measuring approximately 7.92 inches apiece.
Many modern day units of measure, including furlongs,
acres, and miles, are based on Gunther’s sixty-six
foot chain. (See Gunther’s
chain conversion chart).
Next: Geology of New England Stone
Walls
|
|
