John Scott submitted these photos and these thoughts about the Franktown wall. The Hamlet of Franktown is about 40 miles south of Ottawa and began as a half-way stagecoach stop between the military settlements of Perth and Richmond. Many of the orininal settlers were Irish who refused to join the Church of England and built this quaint stone church in 1822. There is no documentation on the date of the dry stone wall in front of the church, however it certainly is reasonable to assume it goes back to the church's early days. The original drive opening in wall was expanded around 1900 with concrete posts and the wall was crudely rebuilt in places. Other than settlement from tree roots and some tampering here and there, the wall remains in it's original bond. I was first interested in this wall because the coping seems small and out of place....kind of delicately placed on top. However pictures from 1925 and 1895 reveal that they are (possibly) not not only original, but haven't moved from their delicate position! I've included shots from 2009 (J.Scott), 1925 (Archives of Canada NA26902) and 1895 (Glen Lockwood, "Beckwith"). You can read more about this in the below ebook "Lanark Legacy" (e-version is incomplete) around page 30. There is also a good article on manitory road labour which features a 1903 picture of farmers crushing some very nice stone for ballast in the book.
