Retaining wall in dressed stone
A retaining wall built to hold the change in level across a plot, with the drainage done before the first stone.
The plot had a considerable drop between the access area and the platform where the house was to sit. What was needed was a wall that genuinely holds back earth, not a decorative wall leaning against the bank.
The part you cannot see today took the longest: a concrete foundation sized for the height of the wall, a drainage pipe laid along the whole base with an outfall, gravel filling the back of the wall, and a drainage membrane separating the gravel from the soil. It is this combination that stops rainwater building up behind and pushing the wall outwards.
The visible face was built in dressed stone laid in horizontal courses, with warm and grey blocks distributed across the run so they do not form patches of colour. The coping finishes the wall and protects the top course from water getting in.