GREENWICH – I read with great interest about the many historical stone walls in our city. After jumping over many of them with my horse, I enjoyed being a part of them.
The story of the stone walls is most interesting as it turns out that Long Island Sound was carved out of a glacier by tons of ice. Then there was a so-called moraine, a mass of stones carried down and deposited by the melting ice of the glacier.
“Debris was deposited in places where it was not a part of it, and a rough mess of earth and stones was created called a moraine. These glacial deposits created a landscape that was rocky and desolate. “
These rocks that fill our landscape were used to build these stone walls that we see all over the city.
As the area became more prosperous, stone walls became much more glamorous, according to the Greenwich Land Trust. As there was more and more good old money, the old stone walls were built higher. Although in my house the stone walls remained small since mine was an old house and I kept the stone walls the way I wanted my old house to look old.
The houses that have the big top of the wall with the big stones look better and protect the property from passers-by and construction work. The look of the wall with the large bricks on top and the smaller bricks underneath makes a wall with a nice look in my opinion. I always felt that the look of the walls was a beautiful sight.
Some of the stone walls are cracked walls, which many think the walls look more sophisticated, a look I don’t particularly like. The old walls are the way to go for me.
Thank goodness many of the old smaller walls still exist. In fact, there are several of them, like the one in my house, and it made me feel great every time I pulled into the driveway.
Norma Bartol of Greenwich, a longtime back country resident, is a former reporter and columnist for Greenwich Time.
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