Stretcher railings are railings or fences that enclose some buildings in London. The railings are made of repurposed medical stretchers, left over from the Blitz. Their original form followed a purpose-built design and had numerous advantages for use during the war. The design lent itself to easy conversion to railings following the war. There exists a society for their preservation and upkeep.

The stretchers were commissioned for use by Air Raid Precautions (ARP) officers in the course of air raids during the Blitz in World War II. Over 600,000 steel stretchers were originally built by the ARP.^[1] The stretchers were mainly produced in manufacturing plants in Hertfordshire and the West Midlands. The scale of their production was interpreted as an expectation from the government for high casualties during the war.^[2]

The stretchers were made to a simple design and of a single material.^[2] The design had kinks on both ends which would elevate the bed from the ground when laid flat, and allowed medical personnel to easily pick up the stretcher.^[3] The simple all-metal design allowed for easy mass production of the stretchers in wartime, and for easy cleaning in the event of gas attacks. The bed of the stretcher is composed of a woven metal mesh.^[1] Metal was chosen as it was considered easier to clean and disinfect than the wood or fabric materials used in stretchers during World War I.^[2]

Following the end of the war, the London City Council used the then-surplus stretchers as railing fixtures. These were used to replace many of the housing-estate fences that were stripped for metal during the war to aid the war effort. The stretchers were converted to railings using simple reconstructions suspending them from vertical supports.^[1] Some of the railing have since fallen into a state of disrepair due to extensive rusting.^[4]

This deterioration has led to the removal of some railings, with the first instance noted in East Dulwich. At the nearby estate of Badminton House, railings have been preserved and their owners have committed to maintaining them.^[4] An organisation, "The Stretcher Railing Society", was created to obtain funding and to assist local councils and conservation authorities in implementing the complex restorations needed for some of the deteriorating railings.^[2][4] The society maintains a map of the known locations of stretcher railings.^[4]