FG12: Wooden field gate

This item is part of Capital Grants 2025. You must read the Capital Grants 2025 guidance to understand the rules and how to apply.

If you’re applying for this item as part of a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) application, you must read the CSHT applicant’s guide 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

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.

If you’re applying for this item as part of a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) application, you must read the record keeping and site visit requirements in the CSHT agreement holder’s guide.

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. 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.