Dry Stone Wall Grants in Derbyshire: Where the Funding Is and Who Can Get It
Updated: Oct 9
Rebuilding a long run of field wall is expensive, and there is public money set aside for exactly this kind of work. The catch is that it moves around. Schemes open, fill up and close within weeks, and the rules change every round. Below is every funding route we know of that covers dry stone walls in Derbyshire, what each one pays, who can apply, and which are actually open right now.
Are there grants for dry stone walls in Derbyshire?
Yes, mainly for farmers and land managers. The main routes are Defra's Capital Grants, the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme for land in or near the Peak District, and Sustainable Farming Incentive payments for maintaining walls. Heritage funding exists for historically significant walls. Garden walls on residential property are generally not covered.
The funding routes at a glance
Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants, paid per metre of wall restored or repaired. Closed for 2026.
Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL), run locally by the Peak District National Park Authority. Open, and running to March 2029.
Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI26), an annual payment for keeping walls in good condition. Closed for 2026.
National Lottery Heritage Fund, grants from £10,000 for heritage projects. Open year round.
Combinations of the above, with strict rules about not funding the same work twice.
Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants
This is the main national scheme for wall restoration, run by the Rural Payments Agency. It pays fixed rates per metre for one-off capital works, and the Capital Grants 2026 applicant's guide lists the stone wall items:
BN12 Stone wall restoration: £31.91 per metre
BN16 Repair stone walls: £16.17 per metre
BN14 Stone from quarry supplement: £164.50 per metre, only alongside BN12 or BN16
BN13 Top wiring: £5.54 per metre, only alongside BN12 or BN16
FG13 Stone gate post: £651.42 per post
Wall items sit in the boundaries, trees and orchards group, which has a funding limit of £35,000 per application.
Is it open?
No. The 2026 round opened on 30 July and is now closed for applications. No date has been announced for the next round, so it is worth subscribing to updates on the Defra Farming blog and having your paperwork ready, because the last two rounds filled quickly.
Who can apply
Owner occupiers, tenants, landlords and some licensors, provided the land is entirely in England and registered on the Rural Payments service. You need management control of the land for five years from the start of the agreement. Tenants without that length of tenancy need their landlord to countersign.
Land with common rights or shared grazing is excluded, and so is developed land, which rules out most domestic gardens.
The rule that catches people out
The grant cannot pay for any work done, or materials bought, before your agreement starts. If you rebuild the wall first and apply afterwards, you will not be paid. Get the agreement in place, then book the waller.
It also cannot pay agent or advisory fees, and you have to pay for the work upfront and claim the money back afterwards.
How far the money goes
Worth being realistic here. Our own rates for traditional Derbyshire field walling work out at around £80 per square metre of wall face. At BN12's £31.91 per linear metre, the grant covers a meaningful share of a rebuild but rarely all of it, particularly on taller walls. The quarry stone supplement closes much of that gap where new stone has to be bought in. Our guide to what dry stone wall repair costs breaks down how jobs are priced, which helps when working out what you will be funding yourself.
Farming in Protected Landscapes
For Derbyshire this is the most useful scheme right now, because much of the county's walling sits in or around the Peak District National Park.
FiPL funds one-off projects that help nature, climate, people or place in National Parks and National Landscapes, and walls fall squarely under landscape character and cultural heritage. The programme has been extended to March 2029, with around £30 million nationally for 2026/27.
Who can apply in the Peak District
The Peak District National Park Authority runs FiPL locally and opens it to all farmers and land managers, including from the private, public and charity sector, who are in the National Park or whose work nearby benefits it. You contact their team at farming@peakdistrict.gov.uk and they guide you through the application.
What to know before applying
Unlike Capital Grants, FiPL is assessed project by project, so a strong application explains why the wall matters to the landscape, not just that it has fallen down. Where an item matches a Countryside Stewardship item, FiPL programmes generally pay at the Stewardship rate.
You cannot use FiPL and a Capital Grant to fund the same work, so pick the one that fits the job.
Sustainable Farming Incentive
SFI pays for ongoing management rather than rebuilding. Under SFI26, action BND1 Maintain dry stone walls pays £27 per 100 metres for both sides of the wall, according to the SFI26 scheme rules.
To qualify, the wall must be kept continuous with no gaps, and complete, at a height in keeping with the local style with top stones in place where that is part of the style. In other words, it pays you to keep a wall standing, which is a good companion to a capital grant that pays to get it standing in the first place.
SFI26 is currently closed for applications.
National Lottery Heritage Fund
For walls with genuine historic significance, a scheduled monument boundary, a wall tied to a historic estate, or a community heritage project, the Heritage Fund offers grants from £10,000 to £250,000, with applications accepted at any time.
Not-for-profit organisations, partnerships and private owners of heritage assets can apply. The bar is public benefit: you need a compelling reason the project needs Lottery money, and the fund will not pay for works that are reasonably the owner's statutory duty. A parish council or community group restoring a landmark wall is a far stronger fit than a private owner fixing a field boundary.
What if the wall is in your garden?
Honestly, there is very little. Every scheme above is built around agricultural land, protected landscapes or heritage with public benefit, and Capital Grants explicitly exclude developed land.
If a garden wall has been damaged by someone else, a vehicle or a neighbour's tree, the route is usually insurance rather than a grant. If it has simply failed with age, it is the owner's cost. Either way, catching movement early keeps that cost down considerably.
Getting an application ready
Whichever scheme you go for, the same groundwork pays off:
Register your land on the Rural Payments service well before any window opens.
Measure the wall and mark it on a map, including any wall-side trees or stone features, which BN12 requires.
Photograph it in its current state.
Get a written quote so you know the gap between the grant rate and the real cost.
Check consents if the land is a scheduled monument, SSSI or near a public right of way.
Do not start work until an agreement is signed.
Building the wall once the funding lands
We have been building and rebuilding stone walls across Derbyshire for over 30 years, including field boundaries funded through these schemes. We cannot apply for grants on your behalf, but we can give you an itemised, metre-by-metre quote that lines up with the grant items, which makes the application and the claim far simpler.
When your agreement is in place, send us the details and we will get you booked in. For anything else on dry stone walling in the county, get in touch for a free quote.
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