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Hurdle Making - History & Process 
Hurdles are portable wooden frames or screens mainly used as temporary fences. There are two types: gate hurdles made from cleft poles; and wattle hurdles which are made basket-like and made from interwoven rods. Originally both types were used for holding sheep and other animals. Wattle hurdles have the longer history as they are known to have been used before the Christian era for hut making or cart sides, and from then onwards for all kinds of hut and house construction, including the "wattle and daub" in-filling of wooden framed houses, some of which survives today. 
Wattle hurdles are made in woodlands where the material is harvested. Gate hurdles were usually made in the village, often in the hurdle maker's own house or yard. 
Wattle Hurdles Wattle hurdles are made from coppice hazel or willow, some of which is cleft and some left in the round. The hurdle is started by fixing upright "sails" or "shores" in a hurdle mould, the two end pieces being left in the round and those in between being of cleft wood. Weaving is started with the round rods and finished with several rows of round rods, braided to give a firm top edge. The finished hurdle is usually 4-6' long and about 3' high, but larger hurdles are made for special purposes. Willow hurdles are made in a similar manner, but the sails or shores are usually held upright in a vice formed by two stout square timbers bolted together. The Hazel is cleft or split. First a billhook is used to start the split, then the hazel is run through a break set on a shave horse base. The run or line of the split is keep in the centre by applying either tension or compresion to the rod as the split move down. Gate Hurdles The material used is coppice poles of oak, ash, elm, willow or chestnut, cleft with a froe in a brake, and trimmed and pointed with an axe and drawing knife. The gate hurdle is 6-8' long and 3-4' high and consists of 6 or 7 horizontal bars, or "slotes", two heads or end pieces, and two diagonal braces. The bars fit into mortices in the heads, made by boring two ½" holes at each end, and removing the core between using a mortice chisel or mortice knife. Sometimes a jig or frame is used on a low bench for assembly, but often it is down on the ground, the rails being fitted into the heads and pinned with a nail or oak peg through the projecting tenon. The braces are fastened with long nails clenched over. During many of our shows you will see these traditional skills on display. |
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