GovWire

FG12: Wooden field gate

Natural England

February 10
11:50 2025

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This item is part of Capital Grants. You must read the Capital items: guidance for applicants and agreement holders to understand the rules and how to apply.

How much youll be paid

489.90 per gate.

How this item benefits the environment

Wooden gates help stock management or stop livestock from getting into an area where they may cause damage. They help protect environmental and historic or archaeological features.

Wooden wings for gates make ditch crossing points stock proof by linking the gate to the ditch edge.

Where you can use this item

You can use this item either:

  • with an action or option in Sustainable Farming Incentive or Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier
  • to replace an existing gate where its needed to control livestock on land in a management action or option
  • with a boundary restoration capital item in the same application

The boundary restoration capital items you can use are:

Your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER) will identify:

  • scheduled monuments
  • registered parks and gardens
  • registered battlefields
  • Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE) sites

You must not use this item on scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens or registered battlefields without written approval from Historic England.

You must not use this item on SHINE sites without written approval from the relevant local authority historic environment service

What you must do to use this item

Constructing a wooden field gate

You must:

  • construct the gate out of timber in a style thats traditional to the local area
  • construct the gate to the specifications below if theres no local gate style
  • hang and clap all styles of gate separately from an adjoining fence line do not use the hanging post as an end strainer
Section Gates up to 3 metres (m) wide in millimetres (mm) Gates 3m and over wide in millimetres (mm)
Top rail 100mm by 75mm 125mm by 75mm
Top rail tapered to 75mm by 75mm 75mm by 75mm
Under rails 75mm by 25mm 75mm by 25mm
Braces 75mm by 25mm 75mm by 25mm
Hanging stile 100mm by 75mm 125mm by 75mm
Shutting stile 75mm by 75mm 75mm by 75mm

You must either:

  • either set gate posts at least 900mm into the ground and surround with a concrete mix thats at least 450mm by 450mm wide and at least 600mm deep
  • erect gate posts without concrete surrounds and set at least 1.1m below the ground surface, with the soil compacted around the posts in at least 150mm layers

If you use in combination with FG9: Deer fencing the gate must be deer proof.

Constructing wooden wings for gates

You must:

  • install wings on both sides of the gate
  • make sure each wing consists of at least 3 wooden rails fixed between 2 posts
  • not fix the rails to the hanging post of the gate
  • make sure the rails are at least 38mm by 87mm
  • make sure the posts are at least 100mm diameter half round and at least 1.8m long and sunk at least 0.7m into the ground

Evidence you must keep

You must keep photographs of the completed work and provide with your claim.

You must also keep and provide on request:

  • any consents or permissions connected with the work
  • receipted invoices or bank statements where a receipted invoice is unavailable
  • photographs of the proposed location for the gates or wings before work starts

Read the record keeping and site visit requirements in the Agreement holders guide: Capital Grants, Higher Tier capital grants and Protection and Infrastructure grants for more information.

Other capital items you can use with this item

You can use this item with these items:

FG9: Deer fencing

FG13: Stone gate post

FY6: Restore coppicing in woodland

Advice to help you use this item

The following advice may help you to use this item, but you do not have to follow it to get paid. Its not part of this items requirements.

Constructing the gates

Frame the gates soundly and use wooden materials. All gates should match in height with the adjoining fence and have the appropriate fittings for their operation.

If you need to widen a gateway during wall or bank restoration or create a new opening, you may need planning permission. Check about hedgerow regulations and the permission needed with the local planning authority or the national park authority.

Using wooden wings

You can use wooden wings to extend the stockproof width of the gate where this is necessary. For example, where a gateway is over a culvert or adjacent to a ditch or dyke.

These are only likely necessary where theyre already a feature of the landscape (such as on grazing marshes).

Weather cap the top of gate posts

You can use weather caps to prevent water from penetrating into the post. You should permanently attach them in a way that does not compromise the waterproofing of the post. You can glue or nail through the side of the post but not through the top.

Updates to this page

Published 2 April 2015
Last updated 10 February 2025 +show all updates
  1. Added boundary restoration capital items you can use with FG12: Wooden field gate.

  2. Amended item - now compatible with SFI and CSHT actions.

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