A peg rail is a horizontal strip of wood fixed to a wall and set with a row of turned wooden pegs, used for hanging clothes, hats, tools, chairs and household implements. It is one of the simplest and oldest forms of storage, found in farmhouses, cottages, schoolrooms, institutions and outbuildings.
The peg rail is most closely associated with the Shaker communities of America, who ran rails around their rooms at head height so that chairs, clocks, mirrors and garments could be hung up and the floor kept clear for cleaning. In Britain similar rails appear in vernacular interiors, kitchens, dairies, boot rooms and stables, usually in pine, oak or elm with pegs of beech, ash or fruitwood. Antique examples are valued for their worn, hand-turned pegs, original paint or scrubbed surfaces and the evidence of long use. Many sold today are salvaged from old buildings and cut to length. Peg rails remain popular in country-house boot rooms, hallways and kitchens, where they offer simple practical storage and suit both traditional and pared-back interiors.
