Help save the historic Hay Warren wall

Aim

Help save and rebuild this local dry stone wall dating from the 17th century: a valuable historic and ecological resource in Hay on Wye.

THE WARREN WALL PROJECT AT HAY ON WYE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!

The Warren is a riverside meadow bordered by the River Wye in Hay on Wye. An area rich in flora and fauna, The Warren is loved by both the local community and town’s visitors. 

Along the edge of The Warren runs a dry stone wall, around 300 years old and 130 metres long, the wall is in a poor state: overgrown and collapsed in places, some of the original wall can be saved but other parts need a total rebuild.

Hay Warren Trust and Hay Community Woodland Group are working together on a project to save this important part of the town’s history and the last remaining dry stone boundary wall in Hay on Wye, but more help is needed. By contributing to the restoration of this important historical structure, you will be helping to conserve it for generations to come.

Halfway there!
With thanks to funding from the Welsh Government’s ‘Local Places for Nature’ grant plus generous donations, both financial and work in kind, from local businesses and individuals, we are halfway to repairing the Warren wall. With 65 metres having been carefully rebuilt and repaired thanks to hard work by volunteers and a local stonemason, using existing materials and traditional methods, we need to raise a further £15,000 to complete the wall.

Historic foundations!
Estimated to have been constructed in the late 17th/early 18th Century, the wall is historically significant to Hay on Wye. Below is a tithe map dated 1800 showing the line of the wall at that time when The Warren was known as Mrs Harley’s Land.

Using traditional skills a local stonemason, who is a specialist in dry stone walls and passionate about the project, will work using existing materials and traditional methods to repair the remaining half of the wall. Using artisan skills, hundreds of years old, the wall will be rebuilt on re-set footings, topped with ‘cock & hen’ capping stones.

A wall for wildlife!
Old and traditional dry stone walls are wonderful for supporting local wildlife including plants, lichens and providing shelter for small mammals, reptiles, nesting birds and insects. As the wall is rebuilt the stonemason adds a series of wildlife smoots (small tunnels) at its base to help nature on its way in and out of The Warren. This beautiful part of Hay is also one of five Local Nature Partnership Recovery Sites in the Brecon Beacons National Park, with the wall repair being just one of the many things we are doing to aid nature recovery.

Quote from the progress report by an independent ecologist Feb. 2022:

"Involvement in this project has acted as a catalyst to bring people back together in improving their local environment for biodiversity, particularly following a period of inactivity during Covid. The interest shown in restoration of the wall surpassed all expectations, generating incredible financial support from community members, and has resulted in recognition from HRH Prince of Wales."       

Please help us preserve this important piece of Hay’s history for another 300+ years and donate today.

This project successfully funded on 30th May 2022