Stone Gathering

In general, the activities at the Stone Ministry site will be low impact. The gathering of stones from the Kingswood property, however, will be a significant part of the program. It is, therefore, important for participants to be aware of the significance of our stones from both a natural history and human history perspective.

Many of the stones at Kingswood are where they are because a farmer (or more likely the farmer’s children) picked them out of the fields and piled them either in nice neat stone walls or in rock piles. Other stones are part of old foundations and bridges. We are currently in the process of identifying these fascinating features and perhaps someday the Stone Ministry program will be looking to continue beyond the initial building and will begin reconstructing some of these land features.

Many stones, however, were considered by the farmers to be unsuitable for building and were therefore piled in random locations around the property.  Stones gathered for the Stone Ministry should either be chosen from one of these designated stone piles during  the program or be a solitary stone obviously not part of any prior structure.

Finally, when gathering stones we must be respectful of the role they play in the environment. Many salamanders and snakes use these locations. If you find “your” rock to already be something else’s rock, please let it be. A salamander (the slimy ones, not the red efts) left in the dry heat of the day will die before it can find proper shelter.