Legal Definitions - dowle stones

Dowle stones are rocks or large stones specifically used to mark the boundary lines of a piece of land or property.

Historically, before modern surveying techniques and official markers became common, people often relied on natural or placed stones to define where one property ended and another began. These stones served as clear, physical indicators of ownership limits, helping to prevent disputes between neighbors.

Here are some examples:

• Imagine a large, rural estate from the 18th century. The original owner, when dividing portions of the land among their heirs, might have instructed surveyors to place several prominent, unmovable boulders at key corners and along long stretches of the new property lines. These specific boulders, mentioned in the estate's original deeds, would be considered dowle stones, clearly delineating the boundaries of each inherited parcel.

• Consider two neighboring farms established in the early 1900s. Instead of fences, the farmers agreed to use a series of large, distinctive stones already present in the landscape, along with a few they manually set, to mark the division between their fields. For generations, these particular stones served as the undisputed boundary markers, making them classic examples of dowle stones.

• In an old village, there might be a communal pasture or "common land" shared by all residents. To prevent encroachment by private landowners, the village elders centuries ago might have placed a line of large, distinctive stones around the perimeter of this common land. These stones would act as permanent, visible markers separating public access from private property, thus functioning as dowle stones.