Bespoke gates
Metal gates, made to measure in Cornwall
Driveway gates, garden gates and side gates designed for your opening, built in our workshop near Wadebridge and hung by us, anywhere in Cornwall.
A gate built for your opening, not the nearest stock size
An off-the-shelf gate is made for a standard gap. Most Cornish entrances aren’t standard. Granite piers lean, Cornish hedges bulge, drives rise towards the house and old openings are often a few centimetres wider at the top than at the bottom.
We measure every opening on site and make each gate to suit it: the right width, the right height, the right swing and a design that suits the house behind it. Then we hang it ourselves, so it closes cleanly and stays that way.
Choose your gate
Driveway gates
Single or double gates for drives and entrances: arched, flat-top or bow-top, with matching railings and pedestrian gates if you want them.
Garden & side gates
Pedestrian gates for garden paths, side passages, courtyards and steps, made to sit with your walls, hedges and railings.
Traditional styles, made properly
Most of the gates we make are traditional in style, the kind that suit Cornish granite, slate and render. Popular choices include:
- Arched or bow-top gates that rise to the centre, or flat-top gates for a cleaner line
- Spear-top and fleur-de-lys finials, or plain bars for a simpler look
- Twisted and basket-twist bars set in among the plain ones
- A band of rings or scrolls between the rails
- Ball-topped posts and collars to finish the job
Bring a photo of a gate you like, or tell us about the house, and we’ll suggest a design that suits it.
Hung to last
A good-looking gate that drops, sticks or rattles in the wind isn’t a good gate. We pay as much attention to how it hangs as to how it looks.
Gates are braced so they stay square. Hinges and posts are sized for the weight and width of the gate. Where gates hang on existing brick or stone piers, we look carefully at what they’re fixed into. Old Cornish piers and hedges aren’t always as solid as they appear, and sometimes a steel post is the better answer.
If you might want to automate your gates later, tell us at the design stage so we can build them to suit.
Gates we’ve made
Questions about gates
Do I need planning permission for new gates?
Usually not. Under permitted development rules, a gate next to a road used by vehicles, or the footpath beside it, can be up to 1 metre high without planning permission. Elsewhere the limit is 2 metres.
Those rights don’t apply to listed buildings or their grounds, and they can be removed in some places, for example by an Article 4 direction. If you’re in a conservation area, check with Cornwall Council before replacing an existing gate or wall. We’re happy to talk this through at the site visit.
Which way should my driveway gates open?
Normally inward, onto your own property. Gates shouldn’t swing out over a pavement or road. On sloping drives we design the gates to clear the rise as they open. Occasionally the best answer is a slightly different gate shape or a pair of unequal leaves.
Can you make gates to match my existing railings?
Yes. Matching bar sizes, spacing, finials and details to existing metalwork is something we do often. A photo and a couple of measurements are enough to get started.