stiles

Fabulous stuff –  I’m going to add rural buildings to my ongoing theme of rural mega-fauna on the strength of this article, which tells us:

A man is attempting to create a photographic record of every stone stile in Gloucestershire after becoming “alarmed” at how fast they are disappearing.

Peter Wilson, from Inchbrook, said each stile had a story attached to it.

“They’re a record of ancient rights of way, or even a route to the nearest ale house,” he said.

Mr Wilson is working with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) to create an online map of every stile.

Stiles are structures built into fences of animal enclosures which allow walkers to cross them safely.

Ramblers are invited to submit photos of stiles they encounter, with over 150 submissions to date.

“Some of them date back to the 13th Century, but they seemed to go out of use around 1800 and very few have been built since then,” said Mr Wilson.

“Stiles have always been part of our heritage and we should have a record of where they were.”

Many of these structures are now being replaced to meet accessibility requirements for ramblers.