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Story: Farm fencing

Timber fence, Chatham Islands

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Timber fence, Chatham Islands

Post-and-rail fences were commonly designed to control sheep, cattle and horses, and consisted of three, four or five rails. It is likely that this fully closed-in fence, photographed on Rangatira Island around 1910, was built to protect the cottage’s garden from wild pigs, which could push through ordinary post-and-rail fences.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, E. M. C. Guest Collection (PAColl-4872)

Reference: 1/2-037648; G

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Robert Peden, Farm fencing – Early fencing methods, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/15287/timber-fence-chatham-islands (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Robert Peden, published 1 March 2009.