Coldharbour · 2024
Three terraces at Coldharbour
A steep, eroding bank above a valley, rebuilt as three terraces held by dry-stone walls, with a stair to the view.
- Size
- 410 m²
- Build
- 8 weeks
- Stone
- 96 tonnes
- Plants
- 1,150
The brief
A bank too steep to mow or walk up, slipping a little more every winter, with the best view on the farm from the top. The owners wanted to get up there, and to stop the slope coming down.
The plan
Walls that follow the hill
Three curved dry-stone retaining walls, built from stone dug out on site and from a quarry four miles away.
A stair to the top
Wide, shallow stone steps winding up between the walls, with a landing on each terrace.
Meadow and lavender
Each terrace planted with lavender along the wall tops and a meadow mix behind that is cut once a year.
Water managed
Land drains behind every wall and a soakaway at the bottom, so the slope stays where it is.
This was as much engineering as gardening. The bank had been slipping for years: every wet winter brought another few barrow-loads of soil onto the yard below.
We built three curved dry-stone walls across the slope, each with a land drain behind it, using stone we dug out of the bank itself and more from a quarry four miles away. No concrete: dry-stone walls drain through their joints and flex with the ground.
The stair winds up between them with a landing on each terrace, and the bench at the top has the best view on the farm. The lavender on the wall tops was in flower by the first August.
