A wain is a type of horse-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people, for example a haywain. It normally has four wheels but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a two-wheeled 'haywain' would be a hay cart, as opposed to a carriage. "Wain" is also an archaic term for chariot.

Builders of wains were known as wainwrights, just as the builders of carts were known as cartwrights. These trades no longer exist, but the terms survive as the surnames of descendants of those practising these crafts.

A wain was the subject of John Constable

John Constable

John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...

's 1821 painting The Hay Wain

The Hay Wain

The Hay Wain is a painting by John Constable, finished in 1821. The painting depicts a rural scene on the River Stour in Suffolk. It hangs in the National Gallery London, and is regarded as one of the greatest British paintings.-Description:...

. The painting, which was part of Constable's Gold Medal exhibit to Charles X, depicts a site in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, near Flatford on the river Stour

Stour

Stour may refer to:* HMS Stour, a Royal Navy River-class destroyer purchased in 1909.* Stour-class destroyer, the sub-class of Royal Navy destroyers of which HMS Stour was the lead ship.-See also:* East Stour...

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