Steel field shelters are open-fronted turnout buildings where a galvanised or painted steel frame carries the roof and walls, giving horses and livestock a dry, windbreaking refuge that stands up to an exposed paddock far longer than timber. T C Rowan designs, fabricates and installs steel-framed field shelters from our own Banbury workshop, sized and specified to your field rather than pulled off a shelf. The same firm that draws your shelter is the firm that bolts it together on site, so there are no gaps between supplier, cladder and installer to fall through.
Why a steel frame outlasts timber
A field shelter lives a hard life: out in all weathers, leant on and kicked by stock, and never under cover itself. Timber posts in that environment rot at the base, warp and work loose over the years. A galvanised or painted steel frame does not. It resists damp, does not get eaten away, and holds its shape under the daily knocks of a working field, which is why we build the structural frame in steel and keep maintenance down to the occasional check of cladding and fixings.
Steel also lets us span the opening cleanly, so an open-fronted shelter gives horses an unbroken space to move in and out and share without posts in the way. That matters for safety in a group turnout where a dominant animal can otherwise trap a timid one in a corner.
Built to your requirement, not a catalogue
We do not sell one fixed shelter. Each one is sized and specified to suit the field, the number of horses or livestock, and how they use the space, then made to that brief. As a guide, the things we agree with you per job are:
- Size and bay layout sized to your herd or yard, single or multi-bay.
- Cladding and roofing specified in steel or other suitable sheet materials to suit exposure, light and budget, agreed at quote stage rather than assumed here.
- Open-fronted or partially enclosed depending on whether it is pure turnout shelter or doubles as feed and storage.
- Fixed or mobile, covered below.
Because the exact specification (size, cladding, and fixed versus mobile) is agreed per job, we quote against your actual site rather than a generic price. Field shelters sit within our wider agricultural steel buildings and steel framed stables work, so a shelter can be designed alongside stabling or storage as one coordinated project.
Fixed or mobile shelters
A field shelter can be a fixed structure set on a prepared base, or a skidded unit that can be towed to a fresh patch of ground. Which suits you depends on how you graze and manage the land:
- A fixed shelter is the usual choice where the turnout area is settled and you want a permanent, robust structure on hardstanding.
- A mobile field shelter on skids can be repositioned to rest poached ground, follow a grazing rotation, or to keep within how your land is permitted to be used.
We build both in steel, and we will advise which fits your paddock and use rather than pushing a single product. The right answer often depends on the same planning considerations covered below.
Siting, hardstanding and ground
Where and how a shelter sits affects how well it works and how long the ground around it lasts. Open the front away from prevailing wind and driving rain so the shelter actually shelters. A hardstanding or well-drained base at the entrance stops the high-traffic area churning into mud, which protects both the structure and the horses’ feet. We will look at access, levels and drainage as part of designing the build, and a fixed shelter in particular benefits from a properly prepared base, which we can advise on or carry out.
A note on planning permission
Field shelters may or may not need planning permission, and we cannot give you a ruling on that. It depends on your land use and your local council. A genuinely mobile shelter that is regularly moved can be treated differently from a fixed building, and permitted development on a working agricultural holding can differ from private equestrian use on paddock or residential land. Always check with your local planning authority before you commit. For background on the agricultural side, see our guide to agricultural building permitted development, then confirm your own position with the council. We will design and build to whatever is approved.
One firm, from drawing to final bolt
The advantage of T C Rowan is that one company is accountable for the whole shelter. We work from a site visit or your own measurements, agree the design, fabricate the frame in our Banbury workshop, and our own team delivers and erects it. You are not coordinating a frame supplier, a cladding contractor and an installer separately. T C Rowan is CE approved and works to BS EN 1090 execution standards, with material traceability available on request. We are family-run and fully insured, and our welding is carried out by qualified, coded welders. We work in mild and stainless steel.
This is the same steel frame buildings design-and-build approach applied to field shelters, and it is what gets a finished, working shelter standing in your field rather than a bare frame left for other trades. Get in touch to talk through your field and stock.
Frequently asked questions
Are steel field shelters better than timber?
For longevity, yes. A galvanised or painted steel frame does not rot, warp or get eaten by damp the way timber posts do, and it shrugs off the daily knocks of livestock and an exposed paddock. Timber can look traditional and is cheaper up front, but on a working field a steel frame typically lasts far longer with almost no upkeep, which is why we build the structural frame in steel and fit cladding and roofing to suit your site.
Do you build mobile field shelters?
We build steel-framed shelters as fixed structures and, where it suits your land and use, as skidded or mobile units that can be towed to a fresh patch of ground. Whether a shelter is best fixed or mobile depends on your paddock, your grazing rotation and any planning considerations, so we agree fixed versus mobile per job rather than offering a single fixed catalogue product. Tell us how you use the land and we will advise.
Do field shelters need planning permission?
It depends on your land use and your local council, so we cannot give a planning ruling. A mobile shelter that is genuinely moved around can be treated differently from a fixed building, and what counts as permitted development on a working agricultural holding can differ from private equestrian use on paddock or residential land. Always check with your local planning authority before you commit, and we will design to whatever is approved.
What sizes of field shelter do you build, and which areas do you cover?
Sizes are built to your requirement rather than a fixed range, sized to the number of horses or livestock and how they share the space. From our Banbury base we cover Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, with larger projects taken on UK-wide. Contact us with your field and herd or yard details for a free quote.