What You Need To Know About Fence History

Throughout history fences have been used as both a tool for defence and a tool for conquest. But what is a fence anyway?

Definition of a Fence
fence –noun
1. a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary.

History of the Fence
Early fences were made from stone, earth, wood and even hedges. So based on the definition, historically a fence could have been any man made structure that prevented movement across a boundary.

Christina Kotchemidova, a professor at New York University, recently released a paper entitled ‘The Culture of the Fence: Artifacts and Meanings’. In her paper she argues, “…the history of civilization is closely tied with the history of the fence”. We can see this in the laws around ownership and property. The following is a brief history of how the fence has been implemented all over the world to imply ownership:

Numa, the second king of Rome, enforced a law in the 7th century B.C. that each man should surround his land with a boundary set up with landmarks of stone.

Every time the Greeks ventured out of their habitat into Asia Minor, they divided the conquered territory among themselves by building partitions.

Founders of Rome repeated the Greeks pattern with the newly conquered land of Italy

Burgundian law of 12th century stipulates that even the lands given by the king to his servants should be marked off by definite boundaries. “These boundaries are sacred and any one who removes them shall lose his hand".

In 7th century England, the Laws of Ine, King of Wessex, added to the function of the fence the business of protecting crops from cattle: "A ceorl's homestead must be fenced winter and summer. If it is not fenced and his neighbour's cattle get in through his own gap, he has no right to anything from that cattle; he is to drive it out and suffer the damage".

Stone fences built in the Bronze Age in Cornwall established the pattern of fields and to this day they are still in use.

The first settlers in America invented the Virginia worm fence, which is a zigzagging structure of rough wooden rails crossed at an angle.

Early colonial Jamestown of 1610 had a palisade of planks and posts anchored to the ground.

Native Americans used high stockades around their compounds.

In the 1880s a war of fences, or range wars, flared as settlers arrived in the Wild West to find that rangers were fencing off huge pasture terrains they could not buy.

Today fences are constructed out of a number of different materials, including wood, aluminum, vinyl and chain link. The following are a few different functions that fences are used for today:

Agricultural fencing, to pen livestock
Boundary fencing, to mark off a piece of property
Decorative fencing, to enhance the appearance of a property
Perimeter fencing, to prevent trespassing
Pet fencing, such as a dog fence
Privacy fencing, such as a privacy fence around your home
Safety fencing, such as a pool fence
Temporary fencing, for construction or outdoor events

Fences generally keep people safe, by either keeping them in and away from harms way or keeping them out of harms way. Your pool fence will help keep people safe by not allowing them access to the pool, where as your residential fence may keep people safe but not allowing your dog access to their leg.