Dear list

A colleague and I both came across a type of rural fence in outback New south Wales that is referred to as a Chinese fence.  The fence is a stock [or possibly vermin] fence.  The examples we have are very similar but questioning other Australian archaeologists has not so far produced comparable examples.

The fence has uprights from split timber billets that rise c. 1.5 metres above ground level, and set 2-3 metres apart.  The fence posts are drilled to take 8 or so wires horizontally.  My example also has a top line of barbed wire that sits in a 'V' notch on top of the posts.  The horizontal wires are, in one example, uniformly spaced c. 100 mm apart, and in the other vary from 150 mm towards the top decreasing to 75 mm nearer the ground.

What makes these fences different is that after the horizontals have been strung, vertical wires of the same or narrower gauge are woven down at c. 100 mm intervals.  As they cross each horizontal they are wrapped around it once or twice, creating a mesh or lattice of from 3" x 4" to 4" x 6".  A line of stones at the base builds up the ground to the level of the first horizontal wire.  Both fences run in excess of two kilometres.

The fence itself may be strong enough to control sheep and cattle movement, and possibly pigs.  It certainly wouldn't stop dingoes, kangaroos, dropbears, rabbits and foxes.  One is a station property boundary fence, the other does not relate to any identifiable land division.  In my example at Mount Kaputar the term Chinese fence seems to be local parlance with no written evidence, and with conflicting statements about presumed age [my guess at the time was 1920s].  The other example at Arakoola has historical documentation from pastoral station records, which place it in the 1870s and definitely tie it to Chinese labourers.

Are these fences known from readers'  travels around the obscure parts of the world?  The key distinguishing trait is that the vertical bracing is attached individually, after the horizontals are threaded through the posts.  Maybe it's a Chinese thing, maybe its an Australian fencing contractor using Chinese labour thing.  The 1870s date appears important as it probably predates commercially availale fencing mesh like ring-lock and rabbit wire.

Any comparable examples would be welcomed.

Denis



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Denis Gojak
Heritage Asset Manager
NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning
2-10 Wentworth Street
Parramatta NSW 2150
PO Box 404 Parramatta 2124
Ph:    +61 2 9895 7940
Fax:   +61 2 9895 7946
Email: [log in to unmask]