An unusual legacy of walls

I've known this view for some years and am always intrigued by the historical legacy the varied walls represent. In particular the use of differing Cotswold stone allows us to see the colours, hardness and work of stonemasons, as well as more artisan wall builders.

The foreground stone tiled roof is on an outhouse attached to a side wall of a late Georgian stone house. The slate tiled roof to the mid-right is a Victorian addition to the house, possibly an outdoor toilet.

The stone wall to the bottom left was probably the rear garden wall of some early stone dwellings built beside a lane. Those dwellings were demolished in late Victorian times (ie at the end of the 19th century) and replaced by these small terraced houses the rear of which you can see with their formerly white stucco back walls with a wooden framed window. At that time the red brick wall was built above the old stone garden wall to shield the houses.

No-one seems to know quite what the main Cotswold limestone wall was built for, as it seems to have partly preceded the Georgian house out of sight on the right. But the presence of an ‘Ashlar’ stone corner piece, near the base of the corner, made by a mason, signifies it might have been of some importance for such an investment. The different colours and erosion of the limestone indicates supplies from different local quarries.

I like these conundrums all within such a small space. I don’t imagine anyone else is looking for answers to such little ’riddles’.