Stile

In the United Kingdom many stiles were built under legal compulsion (see Rights of way in the United Kingdom). Recent changes in UK government policy towards farming have encouraged upland landowners to make access more available to the public, and this has seen an increase in the number of stiles and an improvement in their overall condition. However stiles are deprecated and are increasingly being replaced by gates or kissing gates or, where the field is arable, the stile removed. Many legacy stiles remain, however, in a variety of forms (as is also the case in the US, where there is no standard). As well as having a variety of forms, modern stiles also sometimes include a 'dog latch' or 'dog gate' to the side of them, which can be lifted to enable a dog to get through. Where footpaths cross dry stone walls in England a squeeze stile is sometimes found, a vertical gap in the wall, usually no more than wide, often formed by stone pillars on either side to protect the structure of the wall. ==Gallery==

File:Hanbury, Worcs, bridge stile 2.jpg|Bridge-shaped stile in Hanbury, Worcestershire File:Ladder stile Snowdonia.jpg|Ladder stile in Snowdonia File:Stile 02 Ranaghan.jpg|Ranaghan Westmeath Mass-path Stile File:Stile_line_drawing.jpg| Construction of Ranaghan Mass path Stile File:Stile with dog gate OS SY567846.jpg|Stile with dog gate File:WoodenStile.JPG|Low-level stile File:Step Stile - geograph.org.uk - 315602.jpg|A step stile in the Lake District National Park File:RoadsideStile.jpg|Modern roadside stile in Sweden File:KentStile.jpg|A wooden stile in Kent File:Clapper stile near Giants Hill, Rampton.jpg|Clapper stile in Rampton, Cambridgeshire ==See also==