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Ploughmans wall close-up

Our Courses

Courses are conducted at the Centre located at the heart of Davy's inspiring original farm location in Central Victoria.

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The area hosts over 2 km of dry stone walls both internal and external, with old oaks , maple and ash trees planted in Davy's time.

 

Today the Centre sits comfortably within Tandarrum's 1200 tree Olive Grove.

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Our instructors are internationally certified wallers from the UK and Australia. They are all practising wallers with years of experience behind them. Our courses cater to aspiring wallers of all ages and capabilities.

 

Our instructors teach the ancient methods of Dry Stone Walling that have stood the test of time for hundreds of years. 

Introductory Course-Beginner      

What you will learn:
 

✓ Principles of Dry Stone Walling

✓ How to strip out a wall

✓ Setting up your pins and lines

✓ Foundations

✓ First and Second Lift techniques

✓ Through Stones

✓ Applying Coping Stone

✓ Cheekend techniques 

 

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Format:


✓ 2 day course, fully catered                morning/afternoon teas plus            farmers lunch

✓ Internationally qualified                    instructor

✓ Fully endorsed by the Dry Stone      Wall Association of Australia 
 

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Next Available Introductory Courses

 

​19/20 October 2024

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19/20 April 2025

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3/4 May 2025

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11/12 Oct 2025

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15/16 November 2025

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What you will achieve:
 

✓ Within a group you will be able         to complete a wall, applying the         learnings from the course  

✓ You will gain confidence in being        able to understand and build a          basic wall that will stand for                generations.  

✓ Once complete, you will be able        to undertake more advanced            courses such as Retaining Walls,      Project Planning, Curved Walling,      Building down slopes and so on.  
 

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Pricing:


✓ Price is set for $650 inclusive of               

    GST for the two days and                                        includes all catering, tools,                                      qualified instructors, pre-                                        reading, handouts and                             

    information takeaways and full       

    use of the purpose built training                              centre at Tanderrum for training                              and practice.

✓ 10% discount for earlybird                                      payment 14 days in advance of                              course commencement

   (use Promotional Code XB24Z when booking)

Special - Dry Stone Wall Repair - Training Course - suitable for beginners and DYI's      

Proudly partnering with The City of Whittlesea and Rock Bank Farm, Mernda

What you will learn:
 

✓ Principles of Dry Stone Walling

✓ How to identify and clean out

✓ Understanding levels and batter

✓ Stone selection and sorting

✓ Application of heritage

✓ Strength and sustainability 

✓ Basalt Farm Wall repair techniques and tips

 

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Format:


✓ 2 day course, fully catered                morning/afternoon teas plus            farmers lunch

✓ Internationally qualified                    instructor

✓ In partnership with Whittlesea          City Council 
 

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What you will achieve:
 

✓ Within a group you will be able         to understand techniques and complete a renovation/repair on a Basalt Heritage Farm wall in Victoria

✓ You will understand the princciples of Dry Stone Walling    
 

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Pricing:


✓ Price is set for $650 inclusive of               

    GST for the two days and                                        includes all catering, tools,                                      qualified instructors, pre-                                        reading, handouts and                             

    information takeaways and full       

   access to Rockbank 

✓ 10% discount for earlybird                                      payment 14 days in advance of                              course commencement

   (use Promotional Code XB24Z when booking)

Dry Stone Wall Repair Course New Date

23/24 November 2024 

Quarry Course-Advanced

What You Will Learn:

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✓ How to select stone - what are the advantages and disadvantages of different types of stone

✓ Selecting Tools - what tools are available and what is their purpose

✓ Shaping Stone - a lesson in how to shape different types of stone.

✓ Practical Shaping - using tools and having a go yourself. 

 

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Format:


✓ Short Day course
✓ Expert and qualified instructor/s

✓ Maximum of 12 participants

✓ Course is held 8:30am to 1:30pm in Castlemaine, VIC

✓ Lunch will follow the course at a local pub where students can        engage with the instructors and ask questions etc. 

 

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Pricing:


✓ This course is priced at $150 and does not include lunch. 

 

Note:

Completion of a Basic Course or equivalent is a prerequisite before attempting any of these Advanced courses.

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7 December 2024 

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7 June 2025

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6 Dec 2025

Certification

The Dry Stone Wall Association of Australia - http://dswaa.org.au/ - has developed a strategy towards certification of Dry Stone Wallers in Australia. They have endorsed the UK Certification Program as the Australian Standard for wallers to reach for professional accreditation. KDSWC only uses instructors certified under this system of accredition and also runs certification training and testing for people who wish to advance to this standard.

You can find out more on the UK program by using this link; http://www.dswa.org.uk/craftsman-certification-scheme.asp

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The Kyneton Dry Stone Walling Centre has developed and is offering testing for people who aspire to Level 1(Initial) and Level 2 (Intermediate) certification.  Tests are held with authority of DSWA (GB) and conducted by Geoff Duggan who is Australia's only Master Waller. â€‹Practice walls will be available on request the week before the test weekend. â€‹Bookings close 6 weeks prior to the testing weekend commencing due to registration requirements from DSWA (GB). This means that all wallers wishing to be tested need to have all paperwork into Jim Kilsby for compiling and sending to the UK

 

​If you are interested in becoming certified, please contact Jim to register your interest.

Certification Testing

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Next test yet to be scheduled

CALL  JIM: 0490090279 

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