Full description

Hornbeam is a native woodland tree of England and a useful indicator of an ancient woodland. I have heard a couple of different variations on how the tree aquired its common name. One suggests that the wood was so named because it was as dense as horn to work and this is referred to as early as 1597. However, another was that because of is toughness was used in oxen yokes (the beam between the horns) which were subjected to considerable wear. Whichever the original reason, it is a beautifully pale wood, often likened to ivory. Hornbeam is unusual in a British wood in that it carries few associations with folklore, though the leaves have been used in healing to staunch bleeding and aid the healing process.

We prefer to know where our wood has come from and that it has not meant the loss of another beautiful tree! Occasionally we do buy rare or exotic woods, but only from managed woodlands and for the most part our woods come in small quantities from friends managing their own gardens (in the case of native woods) and even occasionally from old buildings during the course of renovation and restoration! Because we only make very small items we can often salvage enough timber for our needs using offcuts from our carpentry friends without the involment of timber merchants and the evil that is commercial felling