15 Pics Of Wavy Crinkle Crankle Garden Walls That Take Fewer Bricks To Build Than Straight Ones
Britain’s known for many charming things. Afternoon tea with scones (do you put the clotted cream or jam on first?). Mysterious and romantic walks in parks and gardens. Wavy walls. Wait, wavy walls? Wavy walls!~
Popularized in the United Kingdom, wavy walls were since then exported elsewhere, including into the United States. So-called crinkle crankle garden walls (don’t you just love that name?) are very economical—they end up using fewer bricks than straight walls. Your first reaction was probably just like ours, dear Pandas: that doesn’t make any sense! Well, wavy walls end up using fewer bricks because they can be one brick thin. Straight walls would topple over if you made them one brick wide. Meanwhile, all the curves in the wall give it stability.
Wiggle down our post with your scroll wheels and leave us a comment in cursive about what you think, dear Pandas. And read on for Bored Panda’s interview about crinkle crankle walls with Ed Broom from Suffolk who has documented a list of all the wavy walls in his neck of the woods.
The UK is full of charming crinkle crankle garden walls
Image credits: Steve Bougeno
They take fewer bricks to build than straight walls because they’re only one brick thick
Image credits: wikipedia
Wavy walls are gorgeous, great for growing fruit trees in the alcoves, and for defending your garden (if it ever comes to that)
Image credits: wikipedia
“I was trying to find something uniquely Suffolk for a local writing competition in 2015 when I chanced across crinkle-crankle walls,” Ed told us how he wove his way into the curvy world of serpentine walls.
“Various web pages told me that Suffolk, where I live, had over 50 examples but the original list (started in the 1960s by local historian Norman Scarfe) had disappeared. So I’ve been trying to make my own list since that time. Every time I think I’ve finished, having visited over 100 so far, another one pops up.”
Image credits: wikipedia
Image credits: wikipedia
Image credits: wikipedia
Ed told Bored Panda that people are still building new wavy walls in the UK. “From individual projects (like one at Ashbocking, built in 1999) to those peppering new estates (like those in a new development at Lavenham by architects Wincer Kievenaar) where they’re added as a nod to the local Suffolk style,” he said.
Image credits: wikipedia
Image credits: wikipedia
Image credits: wikipedia
“But the older ones can require maintenance or repair too, especially if driven into by a passing car (as happened at Easton in 2013). Due to the cost of a proper repair, some don’t survive.”
Crinkle crankle connoisseur Ed added that the advantages of serpentine walls are that they use fewer bricks, are ideal ‘hot walls’ for growing soft fruit in the concave alcoves, and give you “bragging rights over your neighbor!”
Image credits: Amanda Slater
Image credits: chewknew
Image credits: the_country_boy_uk
Wavy walls aka crinkle crankle walls go by many names, most of which would appeal to Draco Malfoy. They are also known as crinkum crankum, serpentine, and ribbon walls. In 18th century England, wavy walls were used for growing fruit. That’s why back then they were usually built East to West, so that one side would always be facing South to catch the warming rays of the sun.
Image credits: campbellandcoarchitects
Image credits: f8tog
Image credits: amlingandcompany
A lot of crinkle crankle walls are found in the East Anglia region where Dutch engineers drained the marshes of The Fens in the 17th century. These engineers are thought to be the original builders of the serpentine walls in the UK. Back then, the Dutch called them slangenmuur—snake walls.
However, serpentine walls aren’t meant just for gardening. They also provide strategic advantages when defending against invaders. Because of their undulating design, attacking troops would be forced to break ranks and that would make them vulnerable to counterstrikes from defenders. Something to keep in mind if your garden’s ever invaded by apple thieves or sneaky squirrels.
This is what people had to say about the serpentine walls that were popularized in Britain
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Share on FacebookMost of these are constructed on a Friday afternoon, just after the bricky gets back from his liquid lunch
Used to live in a house where the garden wall was like this. Sadly I don't have photos. ☹
Similar to the post above, I live in England and have never seen one. They probably exist, but are certainly not ubiquitous.
Crinkle crankle walls are primarily in East Anglia - the Fens.
Load More Replies...I am actually involved in a long term experiment using this style of wall to boost fruit production in the highly unstable climate of Nebraska, USA. I will admit that the actual construction was the simplest brick-laying I have ever done, but proper layout before hand was obscenely difficult. We ended up just chalking equidistant circles along a straight line to get a uniform wiggle. Was quite the learning experience.
It's one of those things best plotted out on graph paper. Not that disimilar to a lot of building work really. You have to work out in advance the layout for tiling a wall, for example, though this is considerably more complicated. Still, if it's only need is to be functional and not perfect then chalking it out by hand I'm sure is absolutely fine. I've done that on woodworking projects! I have built walls but not personally worked on a serpentine wall (do renovation work). My main tip for walls is always use coping stones to finish - bricks are porous - and the wall will last longer. Hope the experiment goes well.
Load More Replies...This reminded me of an Andy Goldsworthy piece. I see where he got the idea now. 8d23e56dd2...b815de.jpg
http://www.artnet.com/artists/andy-goldsworthy/
Load More Replies...I've seen this in the US, and I have always thought it was more aesthetic, but now know it is practical. Thanks, this was interesting.
Be interested to now whereabouts they are in the US - should we ever travel again!
Load More Replies...These curvy walls are so lovely. They seem to harmonize with the curvy lines found in nature. Thomas Jefferson was a big fan of this type of construction and incorporated them into the landscape architecture of the University of Virginia where they have become symbolic of the University and Jefferson's vision. I wish they were more common everywhere because they are just so charming and, although they are very practical, they add a delightful touch of whimsy to any scene.
Sar Margaret, and several of these 15 images (I suspect five) are actually from UVA and Mr. Jefferson's personal design. Shame on "bored panda" for being so sloppy and misleading. (Let's see if BoredPanda deletes this too)
Load More Replies...fewer bricks more space, fine with house with large yard/outdoors
Fewer bricks and more aesthetic? Will wonders never cease! This should become a trend everywhere. They create a more calming effect than a straight fence/wall.
Yes! I wonder why we don't have these in my country
Load More Replies...Well, Helms Deep didn’t do too well with regular walls, I’ll let Eomer know to take a look at this
Straight wall needs 2 layers of brick, curvy wall needs 1 layer.
Load More Replies...Do you tend to tour quaint English villages? I'm a fan myself but it's not for everyone!
Load More Replies...I teach bricklaying and have my students build this type of walling, its not so hard but you need some simple geometry to set the wall out before you begin.
I am a brickwork lecturer in Sussex - do you know where any of these walls are in Sussex. I have been teaching my students how to build Serpentine walls - very rewarding to build.
https://youtu.be/Gx1OemlkjJs?t=90 While the vid doesn't go into too much detail, but may I introduce you to Dieste? :)
I'm in love with the rounded one!! It looks so squishyyyyyy
Is this actually a UK thing or just an England thing? I've never seen one in Scotland, but I'd love to- they're very unique.
So why only in Anglia? Wonder why they never caught on in West Midlans or Northumbria (which is where most of my ancestors come from). I'll be keeping my eyes open for wavy wall on my Google Earth rambles, which I very much enjoy.
Beautiful, every word and picture! But now I have to check the straight brick walls that I didn’t realize had to have more than one brick per column 🌸
I've never heard of them, first time I've seen pictures and I just love them. Must start this in the US!!
Spent most of my life in the Cotswolds with the beautiful stone walls surrounding everything. My Canadian cousin when visiting described them as "rock fences".
I'm fairly certain that THREE and maybe FIVE of these 15 images are from the University of Virginia central grounds locations, as designed by Jefferson himself. Comically sloppy sourcing here. (yet even the last footnote confirms it's an image from Virginia, NOT from Suffolk) Guess bored panda was either too lazy, or too cheap, or too "bored" to use actual photos from Suffolk. Shame on "boredpanda." This needs to be either corrected or taken down.
I have never even heard of such a thing, let alone seen one! (70yo)
Only if you consider the concavities of the wall to be wasted. Any good landscape designer can take care of that easily.
Load More Replies...Well, I've lived in England all 58 years of my life, had many holidays here, and never ever seen one of these.
They tend to be seen in the East of England, the East Midlands and (just) East Yorkshire. Areas where in the 18th century brick was the predominant building material. They're quite rare (although not unheard of) anywhere much further west than the home counties, and I don't think there are many examples in areas where stone was the most prevalent building material. Don't forget, until the railways came along bricks were really expensive to get hold of in most of England- people built in the materials available locally. There was certainly a "fashion" for these walls in the later 18th century- it wasn't just about saving money because many of these walls are seen in what's termed "polite" architecture- the sort of large houses with estate gardens that could easily have afforded a straight wall if they wanted to have one. The same is true where they appear in eastern states of the US where they were adopted by owners of large fashionable estates, so must have carried some social status.
The heat of the walls could help tomatoes grow, and espaliered fruit trees, 4 stone fruit types on one trunk, grafted on, could be lovely. Not sure about where one grows stone fruit in UK. Is it possible? Sorry, I do not know.
Thomas Jefferson used these types of walls at the University of Virginia.
well yes, and five or more of these photos are actually from UVA, NOT from Suffolk. (courtesy incredible lazy boredpanda.... (but of course, they make money pushing such poorly sources fluff..... )
Load More Replies...9th photo down shows a wavy wall joined to a strht wall. the straight wall appears to be made with a single thickness of bricks. Is someone having us on?
I assume you are referring to the wall in the foreground, if you take a look at the middle ground, you will see another wall heading off to the left that begins as a short stub of straight wall and then resumes the wavy pattern. We can't see enough of the foreground wall to know if the pattern resumes or not.
Load More Replies...That is very localised. I'm English and I have never come across them
Nope... live in the UK and never seen one. Mostly stick to the north... Yorkshire and further north though I do regularly travel as far down as Leicestershire.
This must be SUPER local in that part of England. I lived in the south west and never saw one, my daughter lives in the north west, none there either. I've travelled around in the midlands and Yorkshire too and spent some time in Norfolk, none, none & none again! Interesting tho, you think it would've caught on if it saves time & money, wouldn't you?
I must admit I've never seen a wall like this at all, I've travelled all over England over the years.
And here we just stick some rebar in them... last one held for 45 years until pushed over by a big plant and a 70mph wind gust. New one has even thicker rebar!
Yes, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of trying to use less bricks? If you use rebar doesn't the wall have to be double skinned? I genuinely don't know - hence the question! I also think it loses as these walls are gorgeous.
Load More Replies...They're nice but even though I'm from the UK, I've never seen one of these.
They use more area, I can't wrap my head around it how could it use less bricks I mean isn't a straight line the shortest path between two points?! I might be too dumb.
I'm only going by what the article says but it's because the wall can be just one brick thin - a straight wall that is only one brick thin would, comparatively speaking, be easier to push over. So strength for strength it uses less bricks.
Load More Replies...I like them, they look interesting and they are better environmentally and economically.
I am open to hearing your opinion on the subject. Inquisitive minds want to know... why?
Load More Replies...They never build double brick walls! Double brick walls are for insulation in housing. They are both uneconomical and bad for the environment
Hmm... not exactly. A single skin wall is only really suitable for up to a height of around 450mm. That's for any completlely FLAT wall. Anything higher should (I accept that there are many walls that don't follow the recommendations) be double-skinned or shaped to increase durability like a Serpentine wall. The walls around my property are single brick but done in sections that are staggered and with multiple pillars.
Load More Replies...Most of these are constructed on a Friday afternoon, just after the bricky gets back from his liquid lunch
Used to live in a house where the garden wall was like this. Sadly I don't have photos. ☹
Similar to the post above, I live in England and have never seen one. They probably exist, but are certainly not ubiquitous.
Crinkle crankle walls are primarily in East Anglia - the Fens.
Load More Replies...I am actually involved in a long term experiment using this style of wall to boost fruit production in the highly unstable climate of Nebraska, USA. I will admit that the actual construction was the simplest brick-laying I have ever done, but proper layout before hand was obscenely difficult. We ended up just chalking equidistant circles along a straight line to get a uniform wiggle. Was quite the learning experience.
It's one of those things best plotted out on graph paper. Not that disimilar to a lot of building work really. You have to work out in advance the layout for tiling a wall, for example, though this is considerably more complicated. Still, if it's only need is to be functional and not perfect then chalking it out by hand I'm sure is absolutely fine. I've done that on woodworking projects! I have built walls but not personally worked on a serpentine wall (do renovation work). My main tip for walls is always use coping stones to finish - bricks are porous - and the wall will last longer. Hope the experiment goes well.
Load More Replies...This reminded me of an Andy Goldsworthy piece. I see where he got the idea now. 8d23e56dd2...b815de.jpg
http://www.artnet.com/artists/andy-goldsworthy/
Load More Replies...I've seen this in the US, and I have always thought it was more aesthetic, but now know it is practical. Thanks, this was interesting.
Be interested to now whereabouts they are in the US - should we ever travel again!
Load More Replies...These curvy walls are so lovely. They seem to harmonize with the curvy lines found in nature. Thomas Jefferson was a big fan of this type of construction and incorporated them into the landscape architecture of the University of Virginia where they have become symbolic of the University and Jefferson's vision. I wish they were more common everywhere because they are just so charming and, although they are very practical, they add a delightful touch of whimsy to any scene.
Sar Margaret, and several of these 15 images (I suspect five) are actually from UVA and Mr. Jefferson's personal design. Shame on "bored panda" for being so sloppy and misleading. (Let's see if BoredPanda deletes this too)
Load More Replies...fewer bricks more space, fine with house with large yard/outdoors
Fewer bricks and more aesthetic? Will wonders never cease! This should become a trend everywhere. They create a more calming effect than a straight fence/wall.
Yes! I wonder why we don't have these in my country
Load More Replies...Well, Helms Deep didn’t do too well with regular walls, I’ll let Eomer know to take a look at this
Straight wall needs 2 layers of brick, curvy wall needs 1 layer.
Load More Replies...Do you tend to tour quaint English villages? I'm a fan myself but it's not for everyone!
Load More Replies...I teach bricklaying and have my students build this type of walling, its not so hard but you need some simple geometry to set the wall out before you begin.
I am a brickwork lecturer in Sussex - do you know where any of these walls are in Sussex. I have been teaching my students how to build Serpentine walls - very rewarding to build.
https://youtu.be/Gx1OemlkjJs?t=90 While the vid doesn't go into too much detail, but may I introduce you to Dieste? :)
I'm in love with the rounded one!! It looks so squishyyyyyy
Is this actually a UK thing or just an England thing? I've never seen one in Scotland, but I'd love to- they're very unique.
So why only in Anglia? Wonder why they never caught on in West Midlans or Northumbria (which is where most of my ancestors come from). I'll be keeping my eyes open for wavy wall on my Google Earth rambles, which I very much enjoy.
Beautiful, every word and picture! But now I have to check the straight brick walls that I didn’t realize had to have more than one brick per column 🌸
I've never heard of them, first time I've seen pictures and I just love them. Must start this in the US!!
Spent most of my life in the Cotswolds with the beautiful stone walls surrounding everything. My Canadian cousin when visiting described them as "rock fences".
I'm fairly certain that THREE and maybe FIVE of these 15 images are from the University of Virginia central grounds locations, as designed by Jefferson himself. Comically sloppy sourcing here. (yet even the last footnote confirms it's an image from Virginia, NOT from Suffolk) Guess bored panda was either too lazy, or too cheap, or too "bored" to use actual photos from Suffolk. Shame on "boredpanda." This needs to be either corrected or taken down.
I have never even heard of such a thing, let alone seen one! (70yo)
Only if you consider the concavities of the wall to be wasted. Any good landscape designer can take care of that easily.
Load More Replies...Well, I've lived in England all 58 years of my life, had many holidays here, and never ever seen one of these.
They tend to be seen in the East of England, the East Midlands and (just) East Yorkshire. Areas where in the 18th century brick was the predominant building material. They're quite rare (although not unheard of) anywhere much further west than the home counties, and I don't think there are many examples in areas where stone was the most prevalent building material. Don't forget, until the railways came along bricks were really expensive to get hold of in most of England- people built in the materials available locally. There was certainly a "fashion" for these walls in the later 18th century- it wasn't just about saving money because many of these walls are seen in what's termed "polite" architecture- the sort of large houses with estate gardens that could easily have afforded a straight wall if they wanted to have one. The same is true where they appear in eastern states of the US where they were adopted by owners of large fashionable estates, so must have carried some social status.
The heat of the walls could help tomatoes grow, and espaliered fruit trees, 4 stone fruit types on one trunk, grafted on, could be lovely. Not sure about where one grows stone fruit in UK. Is it possible? Sorry, I do not know.
Thomas Jefferson used these types of walls at the University of Virginia.
well yes, and five or more of these photos are actually from UVA, NOT from Suffolk. (courtesy incredible lazy boredpanda.... (but of course, they make money pushing such poorly sources fluff..... )
Load More Replies...9th photo down shows a wavy wall joined to a strht wall. the straight wall appears to be made with a single thickness of bricks. Is someone having us on?
I assume you are referring to the wall in the foreground, if you take a look at the middle ground, you will see another wall heading off to the left that begins as a short stub of straight wall and then resumes the wavy pattern. We can't see enough of the foreground wall to know if the pattern resumes or not.
Load More Replies...That is very localised. I'm English and I have never come across them
Nope... live in the UK and never seen one. Mostly stick to the north... Yorkshire and further north though I do regularly travel as far down as Leicestershire.
This must be SUPER local in that part of England. I lived in the south west and never saw one, my daughter lives in the north west, none there either. I've travelled around in the midlands and Yorkshire too and spent some time in Norfolk, none, none & none again! Interesting tho, you think it would've caught on if it saves time & money, wouldn't you?
I must admit I've never seen a wall like this at all, I've travelled all over England over the years.
And here we just stick some rebar in them... last one held for 45 years until pushed over by a big plant and a 70mph wind gust. New one has even thicker rebar!
Yes, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of trying to use less bricks? If you use rebar doesn't the wall have to be double skinned? I genuinely don't know - hence the question! I also think it loses as these walls are gorgeous.
Load More Replies...They're nice but even though I'm from the UK, I've never seen one of these.
They use more area, I can't wrap my head around it how could it use less bricks I mean isn't a straight line the shortest path between two points?! I might be too dumb.
I'm only going by what the article says but it's because the wall can be just one brick thin - a straight wall that is only one brick thin would, comparatively speaking, be easier to push over. So strength for strength it uses less bricks.
Load More Replies...I like them, they look interesting and they are better environmentally and economically.
I am open to hearing your opinion on the subject. Inquisitive minds want to know... why?
Load More Replies...They never build double brick walls! Double brick walls are for insulation in housing. They are both uneconomical and bad for the environment
Hmm... not exactly. A single skin wall is only really suitable for up to a height of around 450mm. That's for any completlely FLAT wall. Anything higher should (I accept that there are many walls that don't follow the recommendations) be double-skinned or shaped to increase durability like a Serpentine wall. The walls around my property are single brick but done in sections that are staggered and with multiple pillars.
Load More Replies...
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