Post and rail with wire
This design has tall posts, drilled through to take wires. These discourage animals from jumping, and make the fence more difficult for people to climb.
Gate hurdles
In order of suitability, these can be made of sweet chestnut, ash, oak, elm, hazel or willow. These were used for enclosing sheep in pens or folds, and different regional patterns are recognised. The heads are normally made of half-clefts, and the rails of quarter clefts, which are then shaped to a roughly rectangular cross section, tapering to a flattened oval tenon. These are mortised into the heads, with nailed braces added to make a light but very strong structure.
As well as for stock control, hurdles can be used for garden fencing. Wire them neatly to stakes to secure.
Woven hurdles
Woven or wattle hurdles are a traditional coppice product, made from hazel, and used for enclosing sheep. Taller hurdles are also made for garden use. The uprights or zales are made of hazel rods, about 30mm (11/4″) diameter. For strength, the lower section is made of round rods, about 20mm (3/4″) diameter, and the remainder of the hurdle from split rods. For full details see Tabor (2000) or Abbott (1989).
Pale fences
Pale fences are a traditional type of fence used for enclosing stock, and for keeping animals out of gardens, orchards and other cultivated ground. The pales are made of oak or chestnut poles of about 150mm (6″) diameter, which are riven into thin wedges as shown. The poles are first split into quarter clefts (p76), and then using a cleaving-brake to hold the quarter cleft securely, a froe and mallet are used to rive it into pales, with a maximum thickness of about 20mm (3/4″). If not being used immediately, bundle the pales together and keep them in a cool, shady place to prevent them warping.
The fence is made by nailing the pales to a mortised post and rail fence.
The paling fence shown below encloses the deer park at Charlecote Park, Warwickshire, and is at least 400 years old. The fence is made of split chestnut, with the lower rail mortised into the ‘godfathers’, and the upper rails nailed.
This is a more modern version, using sawn timber, surrounding a deer park near Alton, in Hampshire.
