Differences in patterns of coping provide the most obvious characteristics of different walling styles. This section deals with stone coping. Walls capped with turf are described here.
Upright
The most common form of coping is the use of upright stones set to a relatively even height, and is suitable for almost any stone type. Adjacent stones can vary in height, although the difference between the largest and smallest stones is rarely more than 2″ (50mm), and the stones are ordered so there are no obvious dips or rises to the finished height of the wall. From a distance of 20 yards or so the overall effect is a very even line to the top of the wall.
Random
Random copings occur where the available stone varies by more than 1-2″ (25-50mm). Even with random finishes, some wallers prefer to use a line to produce a relatively even top, by distributing shorter stones fairly evenly along the length, or by alternating taller and shorter stones. This is similar to ‘buck and doe’, but is less formal.
Many wallers simply judge the coping by eye, especially where the larger stones are of a similar height. Other wallers deliberately dispense with a line in order to create as jagged a finish as possible, in the belief that this deters sheep.
Occasional variations on this theme, not to be confused with formal buck and doe, include the use of much taller stone set at regular intervals amongst the more standard random stones. This example on Saddleworth Moor, Lancashire, has been used to effectively heighten a section of wall which goes over a rise, and where the height below the coping is only 20″ (500mm) above ground level.
A similar method has been used to effectively increase the height of some walls near Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. Thin slates, generally less than half an inch thick, and 6-8″ (150-200mm) taller than the other copes are set every 12″ (300mm) or so.
Level top
In this style great attention is placed on producing a level, even finish, and is suited to regularly shaped thin stone or blocky stone. Dressing of stone is usually necessary.
This method usually results in the individual stones being held more tightly than with other styles of coping. With thin stone there is good stone to stone contact, and any gaps between blocky stones are usually pinned.
Care must be taken that each stone merely brushes the line and does not displace it. Stones frequently have to be placed, removed and then dressed before being finally placed. Dips in the wall are used to accommodate larger copes, with very tall copes often fitted by removing a few stones from the top of the wall. To use smaller copes, some wallers prop up one or both faces of the stone until it brushes the line. For more detail on coping procedure, see here.
Locked top
Rainsford-Hannay (1972) attributes this style to a John MacAdam of Craigengullich, even giving 1753 as the date of its invention, although this probably represents when it was first noted, as the general technique is not uncommon. In Rainsford-Hannay’s description, the copings are usually of whinstone, about 10-12″ (250-300mm) wide and tall, and seldom more than 2″ (50mm) thick. Topstones, which normally need to be trimmed, are tightly placed along an entire section, and then specially selected thin pinnings are driven down between all the stones to lock them together.
By trimming irregular stone to produce regular copes and plenty of pinnings, this method produces a very tight top out of very irregular stone, and is particularly suited to the Galloway half dyke. It is the predominant method of coping in South West Scotland, and is widely used elsewhere in Scotland, especially where the necessary trimming of unsuitable stone produces pinnings. The trimming and pinning makes this method fairly time consuming. Note the general principles of pinning, taking care not to loosen the coping stones by forcing them apart.
This method is initially very strong, but as the pins work loose during settlement the coping tends to weaken with time.
Buck and doe
Buck-and-doe coping, sometimes known as ‘cock-and-hen’, alternates tall (buck) and short (doe) stones to give a castellated effect. Considerable trimming is usually necessary. It is most commonly found where a decorative finish is required on garden, roadside and estate walls. It may also have a practical use in dissuading animals to jump.
As the stone contact between neighbouring stones is less than with more even copings, buck-and-doe can be relatively weak. The taller the doe the more stable the coping. Where the doe is less than half the height of the buck, the bucks are fairly easily displaced, so many such copings are bedded on mortar.
The most common patterns use regular, relatively blocky stone, either alternating tall and short stone, or using stones of a similar size, but laying the alternate stones flat rather than upright. Generally the latter method is less stable, as the does are then usually less than half the height of the bucks. It should only be attempted with regular stone which gives good stone to stone contact..
The decorative nature of this coping means that many variations are found, as in the example below. The triangular bucks are quaintly called ‘Ben Vorlichs’ by the locals, as they imitate the shape of a local mountain. The bucks and does sit centrally on a coverband, as they are not wide enough to span the wall.
The formalised nature of buck-and-doe copings makes repairs difficult, as the original stones are often broken or disappear with time. To maintain the pattern, specially trimmed stone may need to be imported, which will be expensive. Improvisation may be the answer, as in the Drummond Castle example, where the ‘Ben Vorlichs’ are spaced 24″ (600mm) apart on repaired sections, instead of the original 12″ (300mm) spacing.
Tilted or sloping
Tilted copings vary from nearly flat to nearly upright, and are found constructed in many types of stone. Tilted copings tend to be found in areas of fairly regular stone, such as sandstone, as irregular stones are easier to fit upright than tilted.
Tilted copings require less stone than upright copings, but less height is gained. They can be stronger than upright copings, as each stone holds down its neighbour, making individual stones harder to dislodge. As the wall settles the coping tends to bind even tighter.
You should try to set all the stones at the same angle, although longer stones may need to be laid flatter if you are aiming for a fairly level top height. Try and correct the angle with a complementary stone as shown, rather than by using small stones which are more likely to get dislodged.
In this example, the triangular stone and the sloping cope have been used as features to highlight the water trough below.
On slopes, a tilted coping is easier to build and more secure than other types.
Flat
Flat or slab coping is simply the use of slabs set flat on the wall top. In order to be stable, the slabs must be quite heavy, and consequently tend to be long slabs set along the wall. Take care when lifting and positioning the slabs. This style is less stockproof than other copings, and is more often found on village or garden walls. However, it’s not unknown on farm walls if the stone is suitably ‘slabby’ and more standard coping is hard to come by.
On this 4′ (1.2m) upland farm wall, the slab coping varies in thickness from 2-8″ (50-200mm). Most of the slabs are 2-3′ (600-900mm) long, but there are numerous examples which are 6′ (1.8m) and more in length.
As flat coping is lower than other types, the wall will need to be built higher than normal, and in total more stone will be required than for a wall with a standard cope. The simplest method of laying flat coping is to level off the wall and then set the slabs with their flatter side down, selecting and dressing the inside edges to ensure a good fit, and ensuring that all the levelling stones are firmly gripped, pinning if necessary.
Where the slabs vary in thickness, the wall may need to be finished to a different height for each slab.
For a more formal wall, the slabs are usually laid flatter side up for good appearance. The levelling stones need to be carefully chosen to accommodate the irregular surfaces of individual slabs.
Some wallers use a line to ensure a relatively level finish. The thickness of the individual slab can then be measured, and the wall levelled off accordingly. Each slab can then be lifted directly into position, without wasting effort on trial and error.
If the slabs are easy to lift into position, or there are plenty of hands available, a different method can be used which gives a very even finish. With the line in place, set the slab in position, and then place building stones at the corners to give the required height. These are then set aside, the slab removed, and the stones replaced and levelled off between. Finally the slab is replaced to give a level finish.
Most slab coping is offset. Often some of the slabs are 3-4″ (75-100mm) narrower than the wall top, and are set to give an edge flush with one side of the wall. Care must be taken that the ‘back’ levelling stones are long enough to be gripped by the slabs.
Coverbands
Coverbands are a layer of slabs or ‘covers’ set like through- stones, immediately below the coping stones. The covers completely span the wall, greatly reducing the potential for water to get into the wall. The coverband also holds the top together, even if the coping becomes displaced.
The covers are much smaller than slab copes, as they are not reliant on their own weight for stability, although they will often project from both sides of the wall. Covers must be set centrally, with an equal overlap on both sides, which will vary with the individual slabs. Coverbands are relatively common in sandstone areas with an abundance of thin flat stone, but are rarer elsewhere.
Construction procedure is similar to slab coping, although it’s usual to level the wall off first, and then place the covers. This is done even when the covers vary in thickness, as these differences prove useful when fitting variable size cope stones to produce a level top.
Occasionally two thin covers are placed on top of each other where thicker covers are present, and there are insufficient tall cope stones to reach the required height. Alternatively, additional building stones can be placed on top of the cover, as this is quicker than building the section of wall higher.
Great care is taken to achieve complementary fits, although occasionally smaller stones are inserted in awkward ‘V’s where it is not possible to find a complementary stone, or dressing risks breaking the cover.
Some upland walls do not have a formal coverband, but have sections of walls with covers and small coping stones mixed in amongst larger coping stones.
This method is useful when rebuilding a wall of irregular stone which has a shortage of coping stone, and can use stone which would be too small for normal coping. It has been used, for example, on several in the Nant Ffrancon valley. Slabbier stone and longer, small faced building stones are set aside during the dismantling process to replace the missing coping. The wall is levelled as usual, and a section of taller coping is rebuilt. Using the saved stone, a section of irregular covers is laid with smaller copes above. This is repeated, maintaining a fairly level top throughout.
The resulting wall is slightly lower than the original, but looks as high because it has a regular, even top. It’s also possible to achieve a very tight finish, as the taller copes are held at their base by the covers at each end of the section. The irregularity of the covers is an advantage, as it provides a good key for the smaller copes, which are wedged firmly between the taller copes.
Offset coping
Coping is not always set centrally on the wall, but may be offset to one side. This is generally the case in much of North Wales and parts of the Lake District, where the nature of the local stone often results in walls being too wide at the top for the available coping stone. Rather than set the stone centrally which would leave a pronounced lip on either side, the stone is offset with the space at the back filled with the poorer stone left over from the building process.
In these areas the ground level often differs on either side of the wall, notably on the ‘mountain walls’ which separate the summer hill grazing from the lower winter grazing. The ground level is often about 12″ (300mm) higher on the uphill side, making the wall vulnerable from that side, which is subject to pressure from sheep trying to get from the poorer hill grazing in summer to the better lower pastures. The coping is therefore set to the uphill side, in order to effectively increase the height of the wall from that side.
Procedure
- When levelling the wall, use the longest stones first along the back of the wall, so they will be overlapped by the copes.
- In North Wales the ‘best’ or squarest faces of the copes are set to the same side, which limits the options to get good complementary fits between the stones. It’s easier if stones are positioned as for a clawdd, placing stones where they best fit, rather than working in a sequence. The resulting clusters of copes should then be firmly wedged with a stone hammered into each gap.
- Any longer copes which straddle the wall should be spaced at intervals to help the back stones key together.
- Wedge rubble along the back, carefully matching it with the gaps.
- Once the back has been completely wedged, any gaps at the front and then between the tops are wedged as for standard coping.
In the southern part of the Lake District triangular copes are used, set with the tops slightly overhanging as a further deterrent to stock. Occasionally the back of the wall is levelled off around an inch (25mm) higher than the front, to help achieve this overhang.
Offset coping also occurs on many estate and other walls where an even edge is required on the ‘show’ side of the wall. Offset coping is not as secure as standard coping, as there are more smaller stones which can work loose. It also places an uneven load on the wall, which may affect its long term stability.
Double
Double coping consists of a row of coping along either side of the wall top, and is generally only found where the wall top is too wide to be straddled by a single row of copes. It is particularly common on the basalt walls of Skye, where the blocky stone results in wide walls. Basalt is amongst the heaviest rock found in Britain, and to be straddled by a single cope would require stones too heavy to lift.
The stones tend to have relatively square faces, about 6-8″ (150-200mm) square. They project slightly, but given their weight and good bases, are very solid. Sometimes rubble is set on top to increase the height. This method can also be found in areas of blocky sandstone, particularly in parts of South Wales.
Occasionally thinner stone is used to create a double upright cope on wider walls. Stagger the joins, as shown, to increase stability.
This method is generally satisfactory provided the stones, when in position, are fairly ‘short’. Any stones which are taller than they are long tend to be easily displaced. They can’t be used the other way up, with their long axis across the wall, as this then leaves insufficient space to fit another stone. The normal rule is that stones for double coping must not be taller than half the width of the top of the wall, or otherwise they will be taller than they are long.
However, this example, from Tintagel, Cornwall, uses a slate cope on one side, with slates 12-20″ (300-500mm) high and 12″ (300mm) deep very tightly jammed with thinner wedges. The other side, which is higher relative to ground level, has a less intimidating cope of squarer stones, 10-12″ (250-300mm) high.
Shaped coping
Shaped coping, usually of sandstone, is common on garden and estate walls, and is normally mortared or set on a bed of mortar. The most common shapes are semicircular or saddleback, followed by triangular, with half-octagon and extended semicircles sometimes found.
‘Buck and doe’ variations can also be found, with alternating taller and shorter versions of particular shapes. Shaped coping is normally set on a level top, with slight variations accommodated by the use of a mortar bed.
Sandstone is the usual material for shaped stones because it can be easily sawn, but many other types of stone walls have copes roughly dressed to a semicircle. These roughly shaped copes tend to be found nearer farmhouses or settlements, and are sporadic rather than widespread. However there are exceptions, with virtually every wall on the Isle of Bute having a rounded cope, of either sandstone, slate or whin. Even the rougher copes on some coastal walls mix the stone cleverly to give an overall rounded effect.
Occasionally other methods are used to achieve a shaped top. One example from the Cotswolds is described here, and another near Seend, between Melksham and Devizes, uses small stones mortared into a semicircle. The wall in Portesham, Dorset, has a similar mortared cope in a triangular shape.
Rubble finish
Rubble or rough-stone copings use any size and type of stone, arranged loosely according to circumstances. Many rubble-finished walls predate the Parliamentary Enclosure era, or form less important subdivision walls within more neatly coped boundaries.
On wider wall tops the cope may be little more than a pile of rubble. On more normal size wall tops each stone may span the top, but is merely set on a firm base with little attempt to make a good fit to adjacent stones.
Rubble coping tends to be used on walls of less regular stone which have little good coping stone, and uses up the poorer stone left over during building. It is relatively quick and easy to build, but is not as solid as a more formal cope.
With care, it’s possible to create a more durable rubble cope where the stones do not span the wall top. The technique involves cladding the wall top with closely fitting rubble, rather similar to the random coursing of a clawdd, only in the horizontal plane. Start by placing the best stones length in to make a cope along both edges of the wall top, fitting them as tightly as possible. Then carefully fill the gap between with smaller rubble, fitting complementary shapes together and hammering the smallest pieces into any small gaps. Choose larger stones for any dips so that the top is relatively level.
This technique is made easier if you can narrow the wall slightly from its original width, as these type of walls tend to be wide and contain a lot of hearting. This will provide a greater selection of stone from which complementary shapes can be chosen. The finished cope will be stronger and much more attractive than the traditional pile of rubble. Don’t narrow the wall too much though, or there will only be room for a double coping.
Mortared copings
Formal patterns of coping are often mortared to help achieve a neat finish, secure a less stable design, or simply to prevent theft of expensive shaped stones. Mortared copes are often found around car-parks or other easily accessible places where damage and theft is more likely.
In the Cotswolds many of the random copes on standard walls are mortared, partly to deter thieves, but also because the stones are usually too small and light to anchor the courses below, with many small and traced stones.
Procedure
Use a lime mortar rather than a cement mortar, as it is more flexible. The colour of the mortar is important, especially if you are doing a repair to match with existing mortar. The colour will depend on the colour of the sand, and on any colourant added, and is largely a matter of trial and error. Obtain sand from a consistent source, so that you get to know the colour of the mortar. As necessary use a colourant such as Cementone, in black or brown, and use less than recommended by the manufacturer. A suggested measure is a large coffee jar lid of colourant to a mixer load of mortar!
- Mix up mortar in a proportion of 1:3 lime to sand by volume. Where extra strength is required a small amount of cement should be added to the dry lime-sand mixture in a proportion of 1:6. If you must use all cement instead of lime, make the mixture 1:4 cement to sand if mixing by hand, or 1:6 if mixing by machine.
- Add water slowly to the dry mortar until it becomes workable. The mortar should be stiff enough to stay on the trowel.
- Spread a bed of mortar about 1″ (25mm) deep along about 24″ (600mm) of the wall’s top, set in about 1″ (25mm) from the edge of the wall.
- Position the first coping stone on the wall and bed it down. Then mortar the edge against which the second stone will be placed.
- Push the second stone tightly against the first, making sure there are no air pockets between the two. Then mortar the edge against which the third stone will be placed.
- Continue in the same way. Add mortar as necessary so the stones sit upright.
- Add additional mortar to any places where it is uneven, a process called pointing.
- Frequently the mortar is left rough, but if a neater finish is required you can smooth between the stones using a wet sack or rag, or a small brush. This works best if the mortar has gone off a little.
The overall effect is better if the bed of mortar between and below the stones is about the same thickness.
In parts of the Cotswolds where full sized stones are infrequent, smaller stones are paired as shown. For strength it is best to have at least one full sized stone between every four or five pairs.
Where better coping stones are available, they are often only set on a bed of mortar. The general principles of coping should still be followed, including any pinning and wedging, as the mortar is only a supplement to the strength of the coping.
The use of mortar may be considered unsightly, and a hidden, but less secure method can be used. A 1″ (25mm) deep bead of mortar 4-6″ (100-150mm) wide is laid along the centre of the wall top, and the stones are then positioned. Any visible mortar can be removed or masked with a pin.
