No two stone stiles in Cornwall are exactly alike. They have a picturesque individuality that adds much to the interest and enjoyment of walking in the county, almost like meeting old friends along the way. The Guild of Cornish Hedgers has a policy to conserve the regional and local differences in Cornish hedges and stiles, encouraging the use of local stone and the craftsman's individual handling of it. The purpose of these specifications is not to standardise the stile or its stone, but to act as a guide to the principles of building a safe and stockproof stile in the three main traditional types, and to facilitate retention of historic stiles by showing how to re-set a collapsed or worn tread.
These specifications may also be used where a stile requires refurbishment, perhaps because it is in poor condition or because its dimensions will not keep in modern livestock. But often an old traditional stile can be made stockproof against cattle by building in a length of 50mm (2") diameter galvanised water pipe parallel with and about 0.5m (20") vertically above the highest tread. To avoid the pipe being displaced by walkers, it should be well built into the hedge at least 300mm (12") below the hedge top. Frequently an apparently derelict stile only needs the hedging stonework repaired, and perhaps one tread refixed. These remedial works are usually much cheaper than a rebuild, and have the advantage of retaining the old structure, providing it is still stockproof. A wooden stile is neither an economical nor a traditional substitute for a stone stile. The farmer still has to maintain the stonework in the hedge ends, there are always weak points where they meet the timber stile. Wooden stiles are easily vandalised and they become dangerously slippery with age and bacterial slime (especially in damp Cornwall). Of the many ways of putting up stone stiles in Cornwall, the three main types are the Cattle Stile, the Coffen Stile and the Sheep Stile. There are other types, and many handsome and functional variations within each type. Where local traditions have provided other sorts of stile, and the required conditions and skills are available, these methods should always be kept alive, and new stiles should be built in these local ways using local stone, with only an adjustment in dimensions to cope with modern livestock farming.
Where there is no choice but to rebuild to a modern specification, the dimensions in these instructions should be followed, and should be included in all specifications involving granite (and other suitable stone) stiles in Cornish hedges. Stone hedges, which have no earth core, and turf hedges, which have no stone facings, need slightly different specifications as in their separate paragraphs below.
The ordinary CATTLE STILE is a cattle barrier because of the height of the stile and the daylight perceived above and below the intermediate treads. It is more common, is very easy for most people, and its maintenance is not demanding. Lowland ewes without lambs will be kept in for a while. For simplicity of design and construction, hedges 1.0 - 1.5m (3 - 5ft) high on flat ground require three treads; for higher hedges, five treads. On sloping ground, extra treads may be needed on the lower side. Hedges lower than 1m (3ft) high should have coffen stiles.
The COFFEN STILE, so-called after the Cornish word 'coffen' meaning a man-made hole in the ground, refers to the stile's construction with a pit, not to the ease with which men can carry a coffin across it. Although it sometimes has a stone shelf for a coffin to rest on while the bearers got their breath back, this is not the derivation of the word. Most coffen stiles are associated with 18th and 19th century country mansions and with churches, being convenient for ladies with their long dresses. Others were built wide enough for a worker carrying two pails supported by a wooden shoulder yoke. Sometimes they were built when an ancient packhorse route was converted to a footpath, after a carriage road was built elsewhere. The coffen stile is visually inoffensive and makes for ease of frequent use by the general public, especially for mothers with small children, and the less able, so today it is the best type of traditional stile for country parks and nature trails etc. It is a cattle and lowland sheep barrier because of the number of treads and the pit under them. The disadvantages are that it is more expensive to build and maintain (the pit under the treads needs always to be clear of vegetation and rubbish for it to be stockproof) and it does not deter hill sheep breeds and their crosses. Nevertheless, in the long term, a coffen stile causes fewer problems and is more economical than a wooden stile or a kissing/self-closing gate.
The SHEEP STILE is a sheep barrier because the treads are too wide apart for the sheep to balance themselves on the narrowness of the treads; it also serves as a cattle barrier, but is less suitable for walkers, and is less visible from a distance. Easy to maintain against stock, it needs to be kept clear of brambles and other growth to be passable for walkers.
Cornish shovel, long bar, pickaxe/mattock, wooden rammer (a pickaxe handle is ideal), small spirit level, line and pegs. Where there are roots and topgrowth, slasher, hatchet/billhook and bowsaw are needed. Note that hammers are not used (see below).
Stile treads are of granite or other suitable hard rough rock found in the locality. Elvan, serpentine and other metamorphosed rocks often wear smooth and become slippery in wet weather. Sandstone and some other sedimentary rocks may be fragile and prone to frost damage. Note that slate stiles are often built differently, with other dimensions. Extra hedging stone is likely to be needed, especially for the coffen stile. Usually there is suitable local stone available, often not easily located but very well worth the trouble to find and use. For cattle and coffen stiles, each tread should measure at least 600mm (2') long overall, much shorter and cheaper than by tradition. For frequently used coffen stiles, the tread stones may be 1.2m (4') long). Longer treads are used with advantage because they will project further into the structure of the hedge, thus strengthening it. Treads may be any depth provided that their sides are reasonably parallel and there is enough strength to take weather and foot traffic wear; they should be at least 150mm (6") wide to allow adequate foot hold. For sheep stiles, the stones used for treads should be at least 150mm (6") wide and 600mm (2') long, and again of adequate thickness. Before building, all treads should be inspected for flaws which might cause eventual collapse. Filling should be with good rab (clayey shale, decomposed granite etc.) which is often present as subsoil. Never use topsoil containing plant matter, which shrinks as it decays. Filling must be rammed hard in thin layers behind each course to prevent future movement and ultimate collapse of the hedge. New grounders (large foundation boulders) should be at least 400mm (16") in one dimension and half that in each of the other dimensions. For footstones for cattle stiles and sheep stiles, any suitable rock with one flat side may be used. An ordinary concrete block 150mm x 300mm x 450mm (6"x12"x18") will answer where stone of similar size is not available.
CATTLE STILES. Three treads and two footstones are needed for cattle for hedges of up to 1.5m (5ft) high on level ground. Five treads and two footstones are required for hedges higher than 1.5m (5ft). More are needed where the downhill and uphill sides are at different levels. Some extra hedging stone is needed, especially grounders for the internal faces.
COFFEN STILES. Coffen stiles can only be installed on levelled ground, otherwise people slip on them in wet weather; the number of treads depends on the height of the hedge and the width of the treads. For hedges up to about 2m (7') with a narrow gap (300mm, 12"), four tread stones (two acting as footstones) are needed. For higher hedges one additional tread stone is required. Extra hedging stone, including grounders, is needed for building the pit and internal faces.
SHEEP STILES. A minimum of 4 treads and 4 footstones are required, i.e. a footstone is required at the base and on the top of each side of the hedge, with at least 2 treads in between on each side. The hedge thickness is immaterial. Extra hedging stone is not likely to be needed by a good hedger.
Cut off all topgrowth to the width of the gap to be made. The correct width is crucial to the efficiency of the stile. Open up the gap in the hedge by carefully working down from the top, removing the stone layer by layer and stacking. Shovel out the fill into a separate heap, removing and discarding vegetable material. Grounders that support the hedge to each side of the gap should not be loosened, otherwise the hedge structure will be weakened.
For cattle and coffen stiles in ordinary use, the gap should allow a bedding of at least 150mm (6") for each end of the shortest tread. Where the treads are more than about 1.2m (4ft) long, the bedding should be increased commensurately. By widening a cattle or coffen stile to more than 400mm (16") finished width, costs are increased considerably, and the stile may become non-stockproof. For cattle stiles, open up the gap down to ground level. Leave if suitable an existing grounder to each side as a firm base for the ends of the first tread. Sometimes a grounder will serve as the first tread for a cattle stile, if its top is roughly flat, at least 450mm (18") long, and level at about 350mm (14") above ground level. On other occasions a grounder may make a good footstone. Grounders that are too high should be carefully removed or split.
For coffen stiles, take the hedge down to 0.45m (18") below ground level, making the gap 0.5 - 0.6m (20" - 24") wider than the overall length of the tread. For example: with a tread stone 0.6m (24") long, a gap in the hedge of about 1.2m (48") gives the recommended finished tread length 0.3m (12"). For sheep, the width is the combination of the tread widths plus about 0.5m (20") for every 1m (40") of height , and the hedge is taken down to the top of the grounders. Where convenient, especially on sloping ground, the treads may continue along the length of the hedge, and not reverse. Here each side of the hedge is taken down only for the length needed, leaving the other side intact.
Starting with the new grounders, begin building up the new internal faces of the hedge ends exposed by opening the gap. Without disturbing the external stoned faces of the hedge, more fill is taken out of the internal faces so as to set the new grounders in a row along the foot of each of these internal faces. Make specially certain that the cornerstones are well keyed in. Courses are made up to provide foundations for the first treads so that their upper surfaces are 0.35m (14") above field ground level. Where the ground on each side of the hedge is at the same level, the first tread on each side is laid to rest on stones at each end so that its upper edge is 0.35mm (14") vertically above the ground level. It is set in with its vertical outward face level with the outside of the hedge where it lies. On sloping ground, the first tread on the lower side of the hedge is laid at the level of the ground on the higher side of the hedge. Then an additional tread is inserted, on the lower side, at the height of the first tread on the higher side of the hedge, to level the job up. Where the difference in ground level is more than 0.9m (3ft), more treads are built in at 0.35m (14") vertical spacing, to level up. Each tread should be bedded so that it is level along its length, and so that its upper surface is inclined slightly towards the centre of the hedge with its inside edge set lower by about 6mm (¼") to make the stile safer to get over. A small spirit level is invaluable for this as the eye often deceives. Not to take enough care on this point is a common fault which cannot be rectified later.
In making up the stonework on the internal faces of the gap, care must be taken to provide good support for the ends of the treads. The load of each tread should be taken by either a single stone twice as wide as the tread, or several stones with the larger ones supporting the edges of the tread, thus spreading its weight. These stones must be well bedded to avoid future rocking or tilting of the tread. When using the original hedge fill for bedding in the stonework, special care has to be taken, because it always has some humus in it, to ram it hard into place behind each stone to avoid future voids as the hedge consolidates with time and weather. The run of each course should generally be level, and not with the lie of the land; this is to provide stability and to counteract the inclination for stones to move downhill. They must also follow the courses of the hedge sides; thus you should work first from the downhill side of the hedge. The courses are made as for building a new Cornish hedge. (See the Guild's paper "Building Cornish hedges".) Smaller stone always weakens a hedge; therefore stone is never broken with a hammer to suit the hedge. In an old hedge (4000 years old) the stones are likely to have been reused several hundred times in its subsequent repair; to break them is an affront. In Cornwall, breaking hedging stone is a sure sign of bad workmanship.
The two internal faces of the gap are built up vertically, 300mm (12") apart, as the work progresses. There must be no batter (slope). The two internal faces are crossbraced by the treads. A piece of field turf about the size of a door knob is inserted at every third course and the same distance apart within the course between the stones; this helps the hedge structure to knit together quickly. Future roots of plants and scrub growth will anchor the rab against rain erosion, and thus hold the hedge together. For cattle stiles in hedges 1.0 - 1.5m (3 - 5ft) high, three treads are needed. The top tread should be located with its top surface 0.35m (14") vertically above the line of the top surfaces of the two lower treads, and along the centre line of the hedge. To be stockproof a stile of these dimensions will need a 2" galvanised water pipe set in above, or for the top tread to be raised as a step over function.
For cattle stiles in hedges over 1.5m (5ft) high, five treads are needed. Having laid the two lower treads, the position of the top tread needs to be located, with its top surface 1.7m (42") above ground level, and on the centre line of the hedge. Insert a peg in the hedge here. Run a line from this peg to the centre of the upper surface of each of the two lower treads. Halfway along each line gives the position of the centre of the upper surface of the intermediate treads. This routine makes a working allowance for all different widths and heights of hedge above 1.5m (5ft). The stonework is continued to bed in the intermediate and top treads. If the top tread is more than 250mm (10") wide, it is turned 90 degrees so that its narrow edge is upward as a sit-on/step-over function, not a step-on function. In wide low hedges this variant improves the stockproof quality of a stile without adding to its inconvenience. The internal faces of the gap are made up to the top of the hedge with courses of stone as in the rest of the hedge, with a layer of thick turf or heavy stone laid over the top course. Care should be taken to ensure that the turf on the top of each face does knit in rapidly, and it may need to be pegged down, because walkers will use it as a handhold. Heavy stones are better when they are properly bedded down, because walkers will pull on them. The finished height of the turf top is domed, with the centre 400mm (16") above the level of the top course of the stones.
FOOTSTONES. A footstone should be set in the ground at each side of the hedge after all the treads have been built in, and the site has been tidied up. Each footstone is set level, half in the hedge bottom, with its upper surface at ground level, and with its longer side parallel with the hedge.
SHEEP. Lowland breeds of sheep are kept in where netting is mounted vertically between the top tread and the ground. When cut to the right size, it needs no special fixing.
WAYMARKING. An easy way is for a yellow arrow to be painted on the two vertical surfaces of the top tread, the arrows being angled towards the route of the path in each direction. The arrow should be neat and unobtrusive. The colour yellow must be used to distinguish the footpath from a bridleway or byway. Waymarking is useful for walkers in preventing them from losing their way; and for the farmer, in keeping walkers from straying off the footpath.
The excavated pit should be rectangular 450mm (18") deep and extend about 300mm (12") beyond the line of the existing stone sides of the hedge, that is, to the nearer and further sides of the stile-to-be, allowing for 2 or 3 treads (plus 2 footstones) as appropriate. The sides of the pit must be vertical, and the width of the pit inside the finished stonework should be about 300mm (12") less than the overall length of the shortest tread stone. The floor of the pit must be level and rammed hard. To facilitate future maintenance; a layer of builders' black dampproof membrane covered with a 25mm (1") of rab may be extended over the floor of the pit, being secured by the stones in the side walls. New grounders are now laid around the four sides of the pit, and further courses laid to create vertical stone-faced sides (climbable by hedgehogs) to the pit up to roughly the thickness of the treads below ground level. On the approach to the stile each side, the top course of these faces consists of a suitable footstone, preferably of the same dimensions as the treads. The footstones are laid with their upper surface level with the ground. COntinue hedgehog ramp up to ground level to a corner.
The treads are then laid with their upper surface on a level with the upper surface of the footstones, leaving not less than 400mm (16") of clear space between the treads, and 450mm (18") of space from the upper surface of the treads to the floor of the pit. Care must be taken to bed the treads securely with their upper surface level both lengthways and widthways, using large stones around the ends of the treads, and with not less than 150mm (6") of each of the tread ends embedded into the stone facing. An essential feature of Cornish hedges is the inwardly curved batter of the hedge sides. This distinguishes the Cornish hedge from a wall which has parallel sides. With the weight of the hedge above, the lower stonework becomes subject to outwards pressure as the hedge weathers and beds down. The "rab" filling first consolidates, then gradually changes its character with the action of plants. In an old hedge the movement is very slow. To counteract this outward pressure, the sides of Cornish hedges are shaped in a curve somewhat like the sides of a lighthouse. A traditional rough guide for beginners is to set the grounders at the same angle as the head of the Cornish shovel is to its handle. First the grounders are laid tilted slightly inwards and successive courses are laid so that typically, on level ground, an inwards batter, of about one eighth of the hedge height, is put in to one quarter up the height of the hedge Then the batter is reduced, typically to one tenth of hedge height, inwards batter to halfway up the hedge, then vertically to the hedge top. A common fault is to continue the inwards batter for the upper half of the hedge. This results in an inbuilt weakness and a tendency for the middle of the hedge to bulge outwards as it settles, and eventually for the middle courses to fall down. Example: For a coffen stile in a 1200mm (4') high hedge, about 180mm (7") may be lost in the first 300mm (12") of hedge height from field level, then about 120mm (5") in the next 300mm (12"). The remaining courses are successively set up vertically so that the width of the gap at the top of the hedge is 900mm (the width at ground level) plus 600mm (24"), ie 300mm (12") for each side of the gap. Thus the batter built into the internal faces of the gap when building a coffen stile means that the widest part of the hedgegap is at about half of its height.
When the treads are in place, the internal faces of the gap are built up to the hedge top with normal batter , making the width of the top half of the gap the same measurement as half the height of the hedge. This means that, whereas the finished tread width for walkers is 300mm (12") at ground level, the gap will have widened, with the batter, up to halfway up the hedge. For example a 1.2m (4ft) high hedge gives a final gap of 600mm (2ft) wide. So the traditional batter makes narrow coffen stiles easier for walkers. In setting the batter, the aim is a smooth inward curving slant. If any stones are stepped inwards from the course below, forming a tiny ledge, the hedge will not be stock proof. Particular care must be taken to dovetail the four corners where the stonework of the gaps meets the stonework of the hedge sides, making them so solid as to resist cattle rubbing and vandalism. An experienced hedger may build a coffen stile on a curve, or to a right-angle. This prevents farmstock from seeing through the stile and jumping, but is more expensive although more reliably stockproof (and essential against deer). The pit must be left clear of debris, and kept so. Waymarking is only necessary where the stiles cannot be seen from each other. An excellent example of a curved coffen stile, 3m (10ft) long and 0.4m (16") wide, can be seen at Godolphin House
Experienced hedgers may insert the treads into the hedge without adversely affecting its stone structure. Novices are advised to take down the hedge and rebuild from the grounders, keeping both sides of the hedge level with each other as the work proceeds. The first tread is placed 0.35m (14") above the ground level and laid on a firm bed. The tread should be 1.5 - 2.5m (6" - 10") wide and project out from the hedge 2.5 - 3m (10" - 12"). For hill sheep, the lesser dimensions are advised. The overall length of the stone depends on its shape; only ¼ of its mass should be set as the step outside the hedge face. The tread should slope inwards so that the outer edge of the step is 13 - 25mm (½" - 1") higher than its surface at the hedge face, and level the other way. Much care must be taken to build in each tread with well laid stones below and above so as to make sure that no tread will move on consolidation of the hedge. On level sites, the corresponding tread is similarly placed on the far side of the hedge. On level ground on the other side of the hedge, the treads may be built in opposite to each other. Where convenient, and especially on sloping ground, treads may continue down along the length of the hedge, and not opposite.
Courses of stone are rebuilt into the hedge to a height of 350mm (14") above the first tread, matching exactly the style, including batter, of the hedging to either side of the stile, excepting that larger stones are set over the treads to secure them. The second tread is then placed with its upper surface 350mm (14") above the upper surface of the first tread, and 150mm (6") distant from the first tread, and built in in the same manner as the first tread. Further treads are added until the top treads are within 350mm (14") of the top of the hedge. Then a treated half-round fencing post, with yellow arrow, should be firmly set in vertically near the top tread on each side because sheep stiles are difficult for walkers to locate; also the posts give an invaluable handhold for the elderly. The top of the hedge is then rebuilt with a footstone set in each side of the hedge top 350mm (14") above and 150mm (6") distant from the top treads. Spare stone should be used to provide a hard surface about 150mm (12") wide between these hedgetop footstones. Finally the hedgefoot footstones are laid.
STONE HEDGES Stone hedges are the Cornish equivalent to a dry stone wall, except that the sides are usually battered for additional strength and longevity. In building a stile, the usual dry stone walling techniques are used. Where stone is small and/or rounded, a flexible limecement mortar (1:1:6) may be used, extended into the core of the hedge. In other respects the above specifications are appropriate.
TURF HEDGES Turf hedges contain little or no stone. All three types of stile may be built but stone work is required for the stile faces into which the treads are inserted, the quoins and for the pit of coffen stiles. A lime-cement mortar (1:1:6) should be used. In extreme cases, rendered concrete blocks may be used but, although effective, they are non-traditional and are disliked. In other respects the above specifications are appropriate.
Properly built and maintained stone stiles last for centuries with neither rot nor rust corrupting, but vegetation growth needs to be prevented from overwhelming them. In the long term, stone stiles are more economical than wooden stiles, and safer because the treads do not get slimy with bacteria and algae. Although in the short term, thorns and brambles may deter stock, overgrown stiles encourage walkers to find their own way. Away from the path walkers are often lost, and cause damage in trying to regain the route. The landowner/occupier usually has the responsibility to maintain stiles on a public footpath, and he is likely to be responsible for mishaps to walkers thus deterred from passing over a stile. Cattle stiles with three treads, and coffen stiles especially, need the spaces between and below the treads always kept clear of vegetation for the stiles to be effective against farm stock.
For sheep stiles, the hedge sides and top have to be kept trimmed clear of bramble and tree growth for the stile to be usable by walkers. In many areas a walk along the footpath during the winter, trimming out the stiles with a hook, is enough. In other areas the luxuriant bramble growth necessitates extra attention in the summer. Where the footpath is frequently used by semi-clad walkers, nettles may be a problem. Much depends on the nature and frequency of use of the stile. The law recognises this. Maintenance should be avoided during the bird nesting season (April to August). For waymarking to remain useful to farmers and walkers alike, the yellow arrows should be repainted every five years or so, depending on the exposure of the site. In some parishes, there are arrangements whereby the parish council looks after some or all of the stiles. In these instances, it is in the public interest that the work is carried out in an effective manner by keeping to the detail contained in these instructions, first seeing if the old stile only needs refurbishing.
For way-marking to remain useful, the arrows should be repainted every five years or so, depending on the exposure of the site.
The farmer or land manager is responsible for maintaining stiles on rights of way unless there is substantial written evidence otherwise.
In some parishes, there are arrangements whereby the parish council looks after some or all of the stiles. It is in the public interest that the work is carried out in an effective manner by following the detail contained in these instructions, first seeing if the old stile only needs refurbishing. Complaints may only mean that one tread needs attention. Our stone stiles are a historic heritage and the local pride in retaining them is vital to their future.