Abstract: A picket and rail fence and method for constructing the fence using a plurality of pickets with side indentions at locations where the pickets will attach to the rails, rails with open bottoms to allow for flexibility in the angle of incidence between the rails and the pickets, and sliding lock bars with ridges that slide into the rails between the side of the rail and the pickets. The ridges engage the indentions in the pickets to movably secure the pickets to the rails. The rails are provided with upwardly oriented bottom lips along their length that serve to prevent the pickets from moving in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rails and serve to retain the sliding lock bars within the rails.