GATES TERMS

In Aphabetical Order | About Doors and Gates |
Ba | Br | Fr | He | Jo | Pi | Ra | St

Head stile
The traditional name for the vertical member or stile that carries the latch. Other names are slimming stile, clapping stile, and latch stile.

Harr stile (hanging stile)
O1d English term for the stile that carries the hinges, meaning nearest the hinge post. The her carries the whole weight of the gate in its swing. A trussed harr that has an integral hewn braker ledge to support the top rail. This feature not only greatly enhances the appearance of the gate but also substantially increases its strength.

Hunting latch
Another name for the long sprung steel latch used on some farm gates. The latch gets its name from the fact that it can be easily operated from horseback. The hunting latch comes as a set of four components: a sprung steel arm, a bolt, a staple, and a catch. The bolt is used to fix the latch in position on the slam stile, the staple is screwed or bolted into the stile so that it contains and supports the latch-so that the latch doesn't get pushed out of place-and the catch is driven into the gatepost.

Hook and thimble
In England, the hook and thimble are the parts that make up the forged iron hinge of a traditional farm gate. The hook is the part that you drive or bolt into the gatepost, and the thimble is the part that is bolted and clinched to the hinge or harr stile. With a traditional farm gate, the bottom hook and thimble are either longer than the top ones or set to one side of the top ones, so that when the gate is hung it will remain in the fully closed or fully opened position. The idea is that if you let go of the gate, it will automatically swing open or closed, depending on where it is in the swing.