Decidedly unrefined and purely functional in appearance, many of the dry stone walls of Rappahannock County still create that rare feeling of correctness. The stones in these walls, even though they look like they all just leapt into place trying to secure a better perch to survey the countryside, are part of a greater iconic landscape. The walls now provide a more painterly view for the passerby. The stones were all gathered and not just thrown off to the sides of the fields in heaps.
The stones were not wasted. Their purpose in the past - that of keeping livestock contained, continues to define the uniqueness of this part of Virginia
The walls still work. They keep the cows in. There is no need to augment them with barbed wire, cedar posts or electric fence.
And they help us focus better on the different types of beauty right in front of us, around us and off into the distance.
