The dry stone walls of the Lake District are more than beautiful boundaries — they are living traces of over a thousand years of farming heritage. Built without mortar, these walls reflect the land’s geology, history of enclosure, and generations of skilled craftsmanship. In the Westmorland Dales alone, walls stretch across the hills like veins of memory, many dating back to the 17th century and even earlier (Westmorland Dales Dry Stone Wall Survey, 2022).
Today, they not only guide sheep and mark land ownership but also support biodiversity by offering refuge to insects, birds, and plants (Richard Villar). Their upkeep is a delicate blend of cultural preservation and ecological stewardship, making them a powerful symbol of the Lake District’s enduring relationship between people and landscape (Lake District National Park Authority).
Each autumn, the Lake District’s fells come alive with one of its most time-honoured traditions: the Great Herdwick Gathering. In a striking display of community and care, local shepherds climb the mountains to collect their hefted flocks: Herdwick sheep who instinctively stay within their ancestral grazing areas.
This communal effort, involving generations of families, skilled dogs, and shared land knowledge, is both a logistical feat and a cultural celebration. As The Guardian noted, it's "startlingly beautiful", a reminder of the deep bond between people, place, and livestock that defines the Lake District’s living heritage (The Guardian, Herdy).
In the Lake District, hefting is the remarkable practice where sheep instinctively stay within a specific area of fell, known as a heft, without the need for fences. Passed down through generations of flocks through learned behavior, hefting is a form of natural territory knowledge, deeply rooted in the landscape. It allows communal grazing on open fell land, with sheep returning to the same grazing grounds year after year.
Most hefted flocks belong to Herdwick sheep, whose resilience and memory make them ideal for upland farming. Maintaining these flocks is essential not just for farming, but for preserving cultural landscapes and ecosystem balance (Lake District National Park Authority, GetAnchor). As flocks and knowledge fade, so does this delicate bond between sheep and place — making its preservation more vital than ever.
More about the Lake District
A Landscape Shaped by Culture and Care
The Lake District, located in northwest England, is one of the country’s most cherished national parks and cultural landscapes. Famed for its dramatic mountains, glacial lakes, and rich literary heritage, it has inspired generations of poets, artists, and nature lovers — including William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter (Wikipedia). Beyond its natural beauty, the Lake District holds deep cultural significance, rooted in a resilient, centuries-old tradition of hill farming.
In 2017, the Lake District was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its “Outstanding Universal Value.” It was recognized under three key criteria: its long continuity of agro-pastoral land use, its role as a powerful source of artistic inspiration, and its contribution to the early development of landscape conservation (UNESCO WHC). The cultural landscape, shaped by the interaction of people and nature over more than a thousand years, includes features such as common land, hefted grazing, dry-stone walls, and communal management systems, all of which are integral to the region’s identity and sustainability.
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While the Lake District is often admired for its natural beauty, its landscapes have been carefully shaped and sustained by generations of upland farmers. Today, over 60% of the National Park is farmed, with an additional 28% designated as common land, much of it collectively managed through traditional hill farming practices (Lake District National Park Authority). These systems, including hefted grazing, dry-stone walls, and communal shepherding, represent not only a distinctive cultural legacy but also a model of low-impact land use that supports biodiversity, carbon storage, and soil health (Herdy).
However, as highlighted in the Lake District Farm Survey (2023), this way of life is increasingly under pressure. Many traditional farm buildings are deteriorating, the social infrastructure of farming is weakening, and financial uncertainties—especially around environmental policy—threaten the viability of this ancient system. Yet farmers remain central to the care of this cultural landscape. As one respondent aptly stated, “We made the landscape — no farmers, no World Heritage Site.”
Woolk invites users to explore the Lake District on foot, discovering digital sheep that share stories of traditional hill farming. By walking instead of driving, users reduce their impact while engaging with the landscape’s heritage. Woolk also supports real-world conservation by directing in-app activity toward fundraising for projects like Fix the Fells, helping repair paths and preserve the uplands — one step, and one story, at a time.