Product Code Database
A Hampshire gate, New Zealand gate or wire gate is a type of agricultural gate formed from a section of wire fence which can be removed temporarily. This type of gate is used where access is only needed occasionally, or when the cost of a conventional rigid gate cannot be justified. It does not require the heavy Gatepost needed to support the weight of a rigid gate, it can be adapted to a variety of terrains, it is cheap and simple to make, and if necessary it can easily be made much wider than a conventional gate.
The term Hampshire gate is widely used in Great Britain (including Hampshire) – the names of other counties are occasionally substituted, or more often that of New Zealand. In New Zealand itself it is called a Taranaki gate, named after the Taranaki region of that country, while in Ireland it is known as a slap, and in Australia as a cocky's gate (from the vernacular for "farmer"), bogan gate, running gate, machinery gate or Queensland gate. In the United States it is called a wire gate, portagee gate (Coastal California), New Zealand gate, Texas gate, and other local terms.
Though the origins of the gate are obscure, the name Taranaki gate is believed to reflect the location of its first widespread use; Taranaki gate" in Collins English Dictionary. it may well have been invented independently in several places. Most likely, however, is that the common barbed wire version was originally used in the United States, the place where barbed wire was invented.
If use is likely to be very rare (perhaps only in emergencies), the gate may be wired shut for security – an emergency then only requires the cutting of the securing wire, not cutting the fence itself. When open, the Hampshire gate is folded back against the adjacent fence to avoid it becoming entangled with animals, people, or machinery.
|
|
