FG12: Wooden field gate
Find out about eligibility and requirements for the wooden field gate item.
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 you’ll 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 it’s 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:
- BN1 Stone-faced bank repair
- BN2 Stone-faced bank restoration
- BN4 Earth bank restoration
- BN5 Hedgerow laying
- BN6 Hedgerow coppicing
- BN7 Hedgerow gapping-up
- BN11 Planting news hedges
- BN12 Stone wall restoration
- FG1 Fencing
- FG2 Sheep netting
- FG9 Deer fencing
- WN3: Ditch, dyke and rhine restoration
- WN4: Ditch, dyke and rhine creation
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 that’s traditional to the local area
- construct the gate to the specifications below if there’s 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 that’s 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 holder’s 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:
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. It’s not part of this item’s 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 they’re 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 2015Last updated 10 February 2025 + show all updates
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Added boundary restoration capital items you can use with FG12: Wooden field gate.
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Amended item - now compatible with SFI and CSHT actions.
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Removal of text confirming FG12 Wooden field gate availability under Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants (SFI pilot), as the SFI Capital offer is no longer available.
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Weather cap removed from the requirements section and added to the advice and suggestions sections with further guidance added.
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'Where to use this item' section updated to include detail on SFI pilot standards.
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'Air quality' added to Land use.
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Page updated to show latest record keeping
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Capital item now includes woodland.
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Information updated for applications in 2016.
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First published.