A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air. There are three principal types of structural walls: building walls, exterior boundary walls, and by the lightness of its construction: a wall A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air. There are three principal types of structural walls: building walls, exterior boundary walls, and is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage (though the definitions overlap somewhat).

Fences are constructed for several purposes, including:

• Agricultural fencing In agriculture, fences are used to keep animals in or out of an area. They can be made from a wide variety of materials, depending on terrain, location and animals to be confined. Most agricultural fencing averages about 4 feet high, and in some places, the height and construction of fences designed to hold livestock is mandated by law, to keep livestock Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food or fibre, or labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning of "livestock" is common in or predators out
• Privacy fencing, to provide privacy
• Temporary fencing Temporary Fence is used where building a permanent fence is either impractical or unneeded. Temporary fencing is used when an area needs barriers for the purposes of public safety or security, crowd control, theft deterrent, or equipment storage. Its most common use is as construction hoarding for security fencing around building sites. Other uses, to provide safety and security, and to direct movement, wherever temporary access control is required, especially on building and construction sites
• Perimeter fencing, to prevent trespassing or theft and/or to keep children and pets from wandering away.
• Decorative fencing, to enhance the appearance of a property, garden or other landscaping Thales, an early Greek philosopher known for his view that "all is water," spent a considerable time thinking about the nature and scope of landscaping. Some of his students believed that in order for human activity to be considered landscaping, it must be directed toward modifying the physical features of the land itself, including the
• Boundary fencing, to demarcate a piece of real property Real property and personal property are the main classifications of property in the common law. Real property refers to land and the improvements made by human efforts—buildings, machinery, the acquisition of various property rights, and the like. Real property is also termed realty, real estate, and immovable property

Types

Various types of fencing include:

• Barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand(s). It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare (as a wire obstacle) fence
• Chain link fencing A chain-link fence is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or LLDPE-coated steel wire. The wires run vertically and are bent into a zig-zag pattern so that each "zig" hooks with the wire immediately on one side and each "zag" with the wire immediately on the other. This forms the characteristic diamond pattern, wire fencing made of wires woven together
• Concrete fence, easy to install and highly durable
• Chicken wire Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence poultry livestock. It is made of thin, flexible galvanized wire, with hexagonal gaps. Available in 1 inch diameter, 2 inch (about 5 cm) and 1/2 inch (about 1.3 cm), chicken wire is available in various wire gauges usually 19 gauge (about 1 mm wire) to 22 gauge (about 0.7 mm, light wire mesh for keeping predators out and chickens or other small livestock in
• Electric fence An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter animals or people from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from uncomfortable, to painful or even lethal. Most electric fencing is used today for agricultural fencing and other forms of animal control purposes, though it is frequently used to
• Ha-ha The ha-ha or sunken fence is a type of boundary to a garden, pleasure-ground, or park, designed not to interrupt the view and to be invisible until seen from close by. A ha-ha consists of a trench, the inner side of which is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer slope face sloped and turfed, making the trench, in effect, a sunken fence or (or sunken fence)
• High tensile smooth wire
• Hurdle A hurdle is a moveable section of light fence. Traditionally they were made from wattle , but modern hurdles are often made of metal. Hurdles are used for handling livestock, as decorative fencing, for horse racing and in the track and field event of hurdling fencing, made from moveable sections
• Palisade Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized trunks of trees aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks would be sharpened or pointed at the top end, and be driven into the ground on the other end. They would sometimes be reinforced with additional construction. The height of a palisade can range from a few feet or more to
• Pest-exclusion fence A pest-exclusion fence is built to exclude certain types of animal pests from an enclosure. This may be to protect plants in horticulture, to preserve grassland for grazing animals, or to protect endemic species in nature reserves
• Pet fence Underground fence for pet containment
• Picket fences, generally a waist-high, painted, partially decorative fence
• Pool fence A pool fence is a type of fence placed around backyard swimming pools, commonly to improve pool safety and to help prevent small children or pets from accidentally falling into the pool and drowning
• Post-and-rail fencing
• Roundpole fences, similar to post-and-rail fencing but more closely spaced rails, typical of Scandinavia Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Modern Norway and Sweden form the Scandinavian Peninsula. The name Scandinavia is considered to have the same etymology as Scania. Finland is sometimes considered a Scandinavian country in common English usage, and Iceland and the Faroe Islands are sometimes also and other areas rich in raw timber. Slate fencing in Mid-Wales
• Slate fence, a type of palisade Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized trunks of trees aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks would be sharpened or pointed at the top end, and be driven into the ground on the other end. They would sometimes be reinforced with additional construction. The height of a palisade can range from a few feet or more to made of vertical slabs of slate wired together. Commonly used in parts of Wales Wales ( /ˈweɪlz/ Welsh: Cymru; pronounced [ˈkəmrɨ] (help·info)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. Wales has a population estimated at three million and is officially bilingual; Welsh and English have equal status, and bilingual signs are the.
• Snow fence A snow fence is a structure similar to a Sand fence used to force drifting of snow to occur in a predictable place, rather than randomly or not at all. Snow fences are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways or railways. In rural areas, farmers and ranchers may use temporary snow fences to create large drifts in basins
• Spear-top fence
• Split-rail fences A split-rail fence and log fence is a type of fence constructed out of timber logs, usually split lengthwise into "rails" and typically used for agricultural or decorative fencing. Such fences require much more timber than other types of fences, and so are not common in areas where wood is scarce or expensive. However, they are very made of timber, often laid in a zig-zag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. Traditionally a "zig" points in the left direction and a "zag" points right (\). From the point of view of symmetry, a regular pattern, particularly in newly-settled parts of the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language and Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three
• Stockade fence, a variation of the picket fence that is typically 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) high with pickets placed adjacent to one another with no space between. This type of fence is commonly used for privacy.
• Vinyl fencing
• Wattle Wattle and daub is a building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6,000 years, and is still an important construction material in many parts fencing, of split branches woven between stakes.
• Wood-panel fencing
• Woven wire fencing, many designs, from fine Chicken wire Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence poultry livestock. It is made of thin, flexible galvanized wire, with hexagonal gaps. Available in 1 inch diameter, 2 inch (about 5 cm) and 1/2 inch (about 1.3 cm), chicken wire is available in various wire gauges usually 19 gauge (about 1 mm wire) to 22 gauge (about 0.7 mm to heavy mesh "sheep fence" or "ring fence"
• Wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content, in comparison to steel, and has fibrous inclusions, known as slag. This is what gives it a "grain" resembling wood, which is visible when it is etched or bent to the point of failure. Wrought iron is tough, malleable, ductile and easily welded. Historically, it was known as & fencing, made from tube steel, also known as ornamental iron.
• Hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. It is also a simple form of, including:
  • Cactus fence
  • Hedgerows A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. It is also a simple form of of intertwined, living shrubs A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience. Small, low shrubs such as lavender, periwinkle and thyme are often termed subshrubs (constructed by hedge laying As with many things, the theory behind laying a hedge is easy; the practice is much harder - requiring skill and experience. The aim is to reduce the thickness of the upright stems of the hedgerow trees by cutting away the wood on one side of the stem and in line with the course of the hedge. This being done, each remaining stem is then laid down)
  • Live fencing is the use of live woody species for fences.
  • Turf Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material mounds in semiarid grasslands such as the western United States or Russian steppes`
• Walls A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air. There are three principal types of structural walls: building walls, exterior boundary walls, and, including:
  • Dry-stone wall Dry stone is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their unique construction method, which is characterized by the presence of a load-bearing facade of carefully-selected interlocking stones. Dry-stone technology is best known as wall or rock fence, often agricultural

Alternatives to fencing include a ditch (sometimes filled with water Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. Its molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state, water vapor or steam, forming a moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defense. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defenses, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices. In later castles the moat or water defences may be).

A balustrade or railing is a kind of fence to prevent people from falling over the edge, for example, on a balcony Balcony , a kind of platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, stairway Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. Stairways may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles (see railing system Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. Stairways may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles), roof A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous, bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road, body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed, the material used to make it and the funds available to build it, or elsewhere near a body of water A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or wetlands. Rivers, streams, canals, and other, places where people stand or walk and the terrain is dangerously inclined.

Requirement of use

The following types of areas or facilities often have to be fenced in:

• facilities with open high-voltage equipment (transformer stations, mast radiators). Transformer stations are usually surrounded with barbed-wire fences. Around mast radiators, wooden fences are used to avoid the problem of eddy currents Eddy currents are currents induced in conductors to oppose the change in flux that generated them.[citation needed] It is caused when a conductor is exposed to a changing magnetic field due to relative motion of the field source and conductor; or due to variations of the field with time. This can cause a circulating flow of electrons, or a current,.
• railway lines (in the United Kingdom)
• fixed machinery with dangerous mobile parts (for example at merry go rounds on entertainment parks)
• explosive factories and quarry stores
• most industrial plants
• airfields
• military areas
• prisons
• zoos and wildlife parks
• Pastures containing male breeding animals, notably bulls Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius. Cattle are raised as livestock for meat (beef and veal), as dairy animals for milk and other dairy products, and stallions Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to female horses, known as mares, and castrated males, called geldings.
• open-air areas that charge an entry fee
• domestic swimming and spa pools

Legal issues

Fences can be the source of bitter arguments between neighbours, and there are often special laws to deal with these problems. Common disagreements include what kind of fence is required, what kind of repairs are needed, and how to share the costs.

In some legislatures the standard height of a fence is limited, and to exceed it a special permit is required.

History

Servitudes are legal arrangements of land use arising out of private agreements. Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields, where peasants were allocated strips of arable land that were used to support the needs of the local village or manor. By the sixteenth century the growth of population and prosperity provided incentives for landowners to use their land in more profitable ways, dispossessing the peasantry. Common fields were aggregated and enclosed by large and enterprising farmers—either through negotiation among one another or by lease from the landlord—to maximize the productivity of the available land and contain livestock. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the modern law of servitudes.^[1]

In the United States, the earliest settlers claimed land by simply fencing it in. Later, as the American government formed, unsettled land became technically owned by the government and programs to register land ownership developed, usually making raw land available for low prices or for free, if the owner improved the property, including the construction of fences. However, the remaining vast tracts of unsettled land were often used as a commons, or, in the American west, "open range." As degradation of habitat developed due to overgrazing and a tragedy of the commons situation arose, common areas began to either be allocated to individual landowners via mechanisms such as the Homestead Act and Desert Land Act and fenced in, or, if kept in public hands, leased to individual users for limited purposes, with fences built to separate tracts of public and private land.

United Kingdom

Ownership of the fence varies. In some parts of the country all boundaries are shared; in other parts of the country you may own the boundary on the left-hand or right-hand side, however, only the title deeds can be depended on to tell you which side is yours. (A 'T' symbol indicates who is the owner). It used to be normal for the cladding to be on the non-owners side (enabling access to the posts for the owner when repairs need doing), but increasingly this cannot be depended on.

Where a fence or hedge has an adjacent ditch, the ditch is normally in the same ownership as the hedge or fence, with the ownership boundary being the edge of the ditch furthest from the fence or hedge^[2]. The principle of the rule is that an owner digging a boundary ditch will normally dig it up to the very edge of their land, and must then pile the spoil on their own side of the ditch to avoid trespassing on their neighbour. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, leaving the ditch on its far side. Exceptions often occur, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously existing ditch or other feature.

On private land in the United Kingdom, it is the landowner's responsibility to fence their livestock in. Conversely, for common land, it is the surrounding landowners' responsibility to fence the common's livestock out.

Five foot high fences (over which many people can see and talk) are increasingly being superseded by six-foot fences giving the impression of complete privacy.^{[citation needed]}

United States

Distinctly different land ownership and fencing patterns arose in the eastern and western United States. Original fence laws on the east coast were based on the British common law system, and rapidly increasing population quickly resulted in laws requiring livestock to be fenced in. In the west, land ownership patterns and policies reflected a strong influence of Spanish law and tradition, plus the vast land area involved made extensive fencing impractical until mandated by a growing population and conflicts between landowners. The "open range" tradition of requiring landowners to fence out unwanted livestock was dominant in most of the rural west until very late in the 20th century, and even today, a few isolated regions of the west still have open range statutes on the books. Today, across the nation, each state is free to develop its own laws regarding fences, but in most cases for both rural and urban property owners, the laws are designed to require adjacent landowners to share the responsibility for maintaining a common boundary fenceline, and the fence is generally constructed on the surveyed property line as precisely as possible.

Quotations

"Good fences make good neighbors." - Robert Frost

"A good neighbour is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn't climb over it." - Arthur Baer

"There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it's the risk, the gamble. In any event it's a thing I need." - William Faulkner

"Fear is the highest fence." - Dudley Nichols

"To be fenced in is to be withheld." - Kurt Tippett

"What have they done to the earth?/ What have they done to our fair sister?/ Ravaged and plundered/ and ripped her/ and bit her/ stuck her with knives/ in the side of the dawn/ and tied her with fences/ and dragged her down." - Jim Morrison, of The Doors

"Don't Fence Me In" - Cole Porter

See also

• Separation wall
• United States–Mexico barrier
• Agricultural fencing
• Electric fence
• Wire obstacle
• Temporary fencing
• Post pounder
• Vinyl fence

References

• Encyclopædia Britannica (1982). Vol IV, Fence.
• Elizabeth Agate: Fencing, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, ISBN 094675229X

1. ^ Jesse Dukeminer et al., Property, pp. 668-70 (6th ed. 2006)
2. ^ Lawrence J. in Vowles v. Miller (1810) 3 Taunt. 137, 138, quoted in Alan Wibberley Building Limited v. Insley, House of Lords Judgement (1999)

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