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Traditional English Woodwork, Dorking (2026)

31/08/2026

The early Mahogany trade - colonial expansion, defence procurement, trade tariffs, slaves, pirates, privateers, riots, felling, bucking, trucking, floating logs and sinking logs, the height of fashion, and yesterday’s news. All those and more come up in our latest Trees and Timbers series inspired by off-cuts in the workshop. Check out the recent posts or message for details of the pdf version of them all combined.

27/08/2026

Oak and iron are a timeless combination and we have worked with some great blacksmiths and metalworkers on a wide variety of projects - amongst other things they have supplied hinges, locks, decorative grills, and as shown here, metal casement windows. The windos shown, with heavy moulded oak mullions, decorative iron latches and stays, and leaded lights filled with hand made glass, was one of several for a loft extension in a seventeenth century manor house in Surrey. Must look out for some more metalwork collaborations from the archive.

26/08/2026

Trees and timber, Mahogany (11) – Joinery

Mahogany became the leading furniture timber of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but huge quantities were also used in joinery and some of the earliest shipments into the British Isles point to its adoption for use as fixed woodwork in buildings right from the outset.

The earliest documented use of mahogany in England is suggested to be that used for panelling at Nottingham Castle in the late seventeenth century during its remodelling into a Renaissance style palace by William Cavendish, the Duke of Newcastle. The timber is thought to have come from his own sugar plantations and it is described as ‘cedar’ in documents, so it is possible it was not mahogany at all and sadly the evidence was lost when the castle was set alight during rioting in 1831. Mahogany and Cedrela (also known as Spanish Cedar) grow in similar areas and have at times been confused and the names interchangeable. One contemporary account certainly refers to the smell of cedar as the castle burned.

It is widely accepted that a major catalyst for the rise in the popularity of mahogany was the 1721 Navy Stores Act that removed tariffs on trans-Atlantic timber imports. The first major imports following the act were initiated by the Admiralty itself and research by Adam Bowett has shown that the timber concerned was specified for the new Admiralty House building and had the added advantage of being shipped free of charge in Royal Navy ships returning from the West Indies. Whilst it would quickly go on to become the leading fashionable furniture timber, Mahogany’s specification for Admiralty House seems to have been largely as a cheaper alternative for joinery than the alternatives of imported European Oak or Deal. There is little evidence that much of the significant quantities requested for the project were used for the windows and doors intended though, so maybe it was quickly seen to be of more value elsewhere. One way or another, over the following 250 years or so, as well as some of the finest English furniture, huge quantities of mahogany also went into joinery, from extravagant panelled state rooms and staircases to more humble window cills and door frames intended to be painted over.

The majority our work over the years has been in home grown timbers, although from time-to-time Mahogany furniture commissions have come along. Rarer joinery commissions in ‘mahogany’ have generally used Meranti from Southeast Asia as was the case with the window shown here. Made with traditional methods, it’s a window that should last indefinitely with appropriate care.

It’s hard to recall any joinery commissions that used one of the ‘true’ Swietenia Mahoganies, though back in the 1980s we priced to replicate some stunning double margin doors for the restoration of what remains of Denbies, a house built in Surrey by the architect Thomas Cubitt for himself. With flame veneered panels within solid figured frames, the double margin doors were stunning and would have been a great project, but its one that got away being too hard to price competitively. Even back then, sourcing the materials would have been a challenge, now, other than from seeking out some long held stock or reclaimed boards it would be practically impossible.

We do still have a couple of boards and off-cuts of Brazilian Mahogany left from projects long ago. They await an appropriate way of using them to come along – it will need to be something special. Other than that, it is unlikely any new Mahogany will be used again in the workshop.

19/08/2026

Trees and timber, Mahogany (10) – Mahogany and Mahoganies (will the real Mahogany please stand up!)

It’s widely accepted that ‘true’ mahogany refers to wood from the Swietenia genus of trees, namely Swietenia Mahogani, Swietenia Macrophylia, and Swietenia Humilis, that grow across the Caribbean, Central, and South America. Swietenia Mahogani, or small leaved mahogany, was mainly found around the Carribbean and the timber picked up commercial names like Jamaican, West Indian, and Cuban Mahogany. Swietenia Macrophylia, or broad-leaved mahogany is predominantly found in South America and often recognised commercially as Brazilian Mahogany. Swietenia Humilis, or dwarf mahogany is more prolific from Florida in the north, through Mexico and down into Central America, picking up trade names like Honduras and Mexican Mahogany. They are all now commercially protected and effectively unavailable.

As far as the timber goes, clear definitions have probably always been a bit challenging, especially as the three species can hybridise when growing in close proximity, and varying terrain and growing conditions lead to big differences in the timber from tree to tree of the same species. So much so that some logs floated so freely that they were chosen in the past by the indigenous people for building canoes, and the Spanish for building ships, yet early loggers found others painstakingly felled and transported to riverbanks for floating downstream to ports, simply sank on the way and are still being retrieved to this day.

There are plausible arguments that the name ‘mahogany’ derived from ‘m’oganwo’ the name some slaves working in logging camps would have known similar trees in the Khaya family by back in Africa. The wood from various Khaya species would go on to be known as African Mahogany and traded as a substitute for the ‘true’ Mahogany that it ironically might have given it a name.

Other ‘Mahoganies’ emerged too as demand grew and supplies of the Swietenia Mahoganies diminished. Various trees in the Shorea genus from South East Asia provide what has been labelled as ‘Philippine’ Mahogany, along with other trade names like 'Luan' and 'Meranti'. The door shown in these pictures was made from 'Meranti'. When visiting timber yards forty or so years ago these 'other Mahoganies' would have been seen as cheaper alternatives to the ‘true’ Mahogany (by then mainly Brazilian) that stood alongside them. Now, with strict controls thankfully in place, the ‘alternatives’ have become the only option.

It would be nice to think that lessons learned from the exploitation of Mahogany have led to greater value and care towards all woods. Sadly though, 'brown furniture' is not the flavour of the moment and it is likely that a few minutes spent at the timber skip of the local tip would see something made from irreplaceable Mahogany unceremoniously going in. We have always tried to work to an ethos that anything made of wood should be built to last for at least as long as the tree it comes from took to grow. That is a long time in a lot of cases, but not impossible – we are surrounded by things that have done that, and more. Hopefully this Meranti door commissioned a while back is in with a chance. It was made using time tested construction and materials that with the right care can last centuries.

29/07/2026

Trees and timber, Mahogany (9) - ‘Shiver me timbers’: Privateers, pirates, The Spanish Armada, and the Royal Navy

Privateers, pirates, The Spanish Armada, and the Royal Navy are all interwoven with the early mahogany trade. As they expanded their empire across the Atlantic, the Spanish had been quick to recognise the value of mahogany for repairing, then building their ships. Lacking much in the way of suitable forests of their own, and often in conflict with the oak producing nations in northern Europe, the rich new forests being discovered across the Atlantic were a valuable resource. Some of the largest ships in the Spanish Armada are thought to have been built using mahogany which is buoyant, durable, and held out well against cannon balls. The Spanish also recognised mahogany's value as a fine exotic timber. One of the first recorded uses of it in Europe being for the El Escorial palace near Madrid, finished 1584.

As the Spanish expanded their trans-Atlantic colonial interests, privateers were sanctioned with letters of marque by rival nations to plunder the treasure laden ships returning to Spain. To nations like the English, these privateers were a helpful resource for harrying a rival, from the Spanish perspective they were simply pirates. There are suggestions that, initially at least, the value of the logwood and mahogany found amongst other treasures was sometimes missed and discarded, used as firewood, or passed on cheaply. If so, that changed quickly, and stories of it being auctioned off cheaply at the quayside do not seem to have lasted long
One way or another, it seems likely that privateers were the source of some of the earliest mahogany and other 'exotic' timbers used in Britain. Francis Drake reputedly gifted a desk made from it to Elizabeth I, and on rare occasions items of 17th century furniture appear, predating the accepted start of ‘the age of mahogany’ by a century or more.

If the privateers initially failed to recognise the value of mahogany and logwood, they were certainly aware of it by the time of the 1670 Treaty of Madrid which officially ended Anglo-Spanish hostilities in the Caribbean and required England to suppress piracy in return for recognition of sovereignty over Jamaica and other territories. Letters of marque were revoked and the privateers risked either continuing as pirates in the eyes of both Spanish and English (which some famously did), or seek new livelihoods. Many of those choosing not to be pursued rather than sanctioned by the Royal Navy went on to establish some of the first mahogany extraction camps around the Bay of Honduras in what was to become Belize. These 'baymen', as they became known, played a key role in pioneering an intentional timber trade, clearing the land, and establishing plantations. However, it was a timber trade that would only pick up limited momentum until seafaring intervened once again through the The Navy Stores Act of 1721 which removed tariffs on the transatlantic trade. Revisiting similar challenges faced by the Spanish a century and a half earlier, the act was aimed at removing the Royal Navy's dependence on rival European nations for maritime essentials like tar, spars, and masts.

Picture Credit: Blackbeard’s last battle in 1718, painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1920. Sourced from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Piracy

03/07/2026

Check out any 16th or 17th century probate inventory and it will almost certainly include one, or multiple chests. Right across the social scale, for those captured by the records, chests were a ubiquitous storage item.

They varied from simple boarded construction – five boards nailed together (front, back, two sides and a floor) with a hinged lid, the work of carpenters, to classic joiner’s work of mortice and tenon frames with floating panels. Hybrids with joined fronts and boarded elsewhere were not uncommon either. We have made copies of each.

Decoration varied considerably too, from simple scratched mouldings, through a vast range of carved detail, to high status examples with all manner of inlay, carving, and applied decoration. From around the mid-seventeenth century a fashion of geometric appliques in interesting and contrasting timbers was particularly popular as seen in this chest, a private commission. It is a fashion that crossed the Atlantic and can be found on some of the earliest American furniture.

This piece shown was inspired by an original, its oak construction bejewelled with fruitwood appliques and split turnings. It concealed a contemporary surprise or two – a story for another post. It is shown here as photographed when leaving the workshop, and more recently in its eventually home in pictures from Alison Henry Design’s websites. It was great fun to make.

25/06/2026

Trees and Timber, Mahogany (8): Somewhere down the Crazy River – Floaters and Sinkers.

Rivers played a huge role in the early trans-Atlantic mahogany trade. They were the only viable way to extract timber from remote forest locations with logs being stacked riverside during the dry season ready for floating downstream when the rains came around June to October. It was a practise that continued well into the 20th century. There is a link to a film from the 1940’s that shows just how little that, and other processes we have been looking at in recent posts had changed over two centuries or so. Sadly, over that time (and for too many years after) forests and irreplaceable trees were cleared at a rate that overlooked or ignored the long-term implications that have become increasingly clear over recent decades.

The extraction and sale of mahogany is now, thankfully, strictly regulated. However, the extensive use of rivers for extraction in the past means that some prime timber from the early days is still legitimately finding its way onto the market. Old photos give glimpses of the sheer quantity of wood that was floated out from the forests of Belize, sometimes individually, sometimes in huge rafts. Eyewitness accounts from the 1930s talk of how the size of logs passing downstream could be gauged by the bigger ones bouncing off the bottom as the water levels started to drop. They would eventually become stuck until the next rains, and with the millions of logs passing through some inevitably became permanently beached. Others, particularly the larger, heavier, denser, ones simply sank.

By one means or another, over the centuries, some of the best logs never made it to the estuaries and ports and lay quietly spread over hundreds of miles of river bed. As regulations for new clearing have tightened, and scarcity grown, it has increasingly become viable to seek those lost logs out and raise them. Some stunning ‘sinker’ old growth mahogany has come to light. It is particularly sought after for guitar making with the embedded silt improving the tonal quality.

Of course, not all mahogany took that long to find its way to a workshop and in the early days, having reached Britain after a long sea journey, there is some interesting evidence that rivers played a significant role in the spread across England of this increasingly popular timber over the middle of the the 18th century. Until the rise of canals, then railways, rivers remained the only realistic route for moving imported timber inland and research by Adam Bowett has shown a correlation between navigable rivers and the early appearance of mahogany in cabinet maker’s inventories and advertisements.

24/06/2026

Its pretty hot here in the south of England at the moment so it seems appropriate to share this sun lounger picture via the Alison Henry Design page. A great, and different, project from a while back. We made the joint stools with bobbin turned legs against the stone columns too.

There are hardly many period sun loungers to copy, so it was an interesting challenge to draw on period details and techniques and speculate what one might have looked like - if there had ever been such a thing. Its great to see them, and the stools, looking comfortable in their home environment.

A lot of work over the years has involved making new items for old settings - including churches, museums, palaces, and private homes. There are mixed, and hotly contested, views on appropriate ways to finish such things - whether the new should be left looking obviously new, or aged to blend in. We call it 'the age old question' - whether to age new work to look old or not. In varying circumstances we reckon there are merits to both approaches and have generally been happy to follow clients requirements rather than step to one side of the debate or the other. It has been lovely to make items using traditional methods to look 'as new' for museums, and equally so to age and patinate others to blend into period interiors - always signing and dating them to avoid any deception or confusion, now, or in the future.

In many respects, these sun loungers were made in a way to inhabit the middle ground in that 'age old' debate. They were finished in a manner that helped them on their way but left the rest up to time. Maybe that is sitting on the fence, but we reckon they blend in nicely. What do you think?

19/06/2026

Trees and Timber, Mahogany (7): Bucking, Joggling, Hewing, and Trucking.

Some recent posts have used 19th century images to explore the trans-Atlantic mahogany trade as it unfolded over the 17th and 18th centuries. To date, they have looked the challenging tasks of finding and felling huge old growth trees in tropical forest and the deeply regrettable use of slave labour. Toppling tons of huge tree, a hundred feet or so tall by hand was a heroic feat, but it was just the first of many stages involved in getting it to markets in Europe, and increasingly, North America. An 1850 image of Day and Son 'Cutting and Trucking Mahogany in Honduras' captures some of those next stages well.

The first stage was 'bucking', cutting the trunk to manageable lengths for extracting and shipping – long enough to be useful, short enough to handle. It can be seen being done with a two man saw towards the rear of the Day and Sons image. It is a tricky business - beyond the obvious amount of wood needing to be sawn through. How the tree is lying requires the careful planning and use of props, wedges, and undercuts to prevent the sawcut closing and pinching the saw irreversibly as the cut progresses and the weight of tree shifts. In the image it looks like some form of heavy props or trestles have been put in place beneath the two sawyers who are working on raised platforms, and another worker to their left is starting to set up supports for the next cut up the trunk.

The Day and Sons image omits the next stages of joggling and hewing. It would generally make no sense to transport more heavy timber than practical and these stages involve turning the roughly round sections of trunk into square edged baulks. The largest square possible would be set out on each end of the section being worked on, then chalk lines struck connecting the corresponding corners each end. 'V' shaped notches or 'joggles' would then be chopped out with an axe at intervals down the length of the trunk as far as the chalk lines, a process known as joggling. The curved sections remaining between the joggles would then be removed with a hewing axe, resulting in a square sectioned baulk (and huge pile of chippings). The resulting baulks would be both lighter and easier to stow on board ships than the original round sections. In the Day and Sons image, a team of eight men, being guided by two others, can be seen levering one such baulk onto a carefully positioned cart or 'truck'. Whilst lighter than the original round section, these baulks would still have been incredibly heavy and no mean task to shift like this.

The next stage would involve 'trucking' the timber down laboriously cleared pathways to the nearest suitable waterway using oxen to pull the 'trucks' which had deliberately wide wheels to spread the load over soft ground. Images show teams of eight oxen doing this, and some can be seen being readied to the right of the Day and Son scene. They would often move in the dark using the cooler nights to prevent the oxen overheating.

All this work followed a seasonal rhythm governed by the wet and dry seasons. Felling and clearing through the dry season from around February to May, trucking towards the end of the dry season when tracks would be at their best, with the aim of getting as much timber as possible riverside ahead of the June to October rains and the best opportunity to float the timber downstream. Baulks would be marked with the owner's name and chains stretched across the river mouths to retain them before sorting and shipping on.

The mahogany still had a long way to travel - more on that later.

17/06/2026

This oak table was a real joy to make. The mitre-framed top, ogee shaped stretchers, and pronounced bulbous legs (we called them pumpkin legs in the workshop) were all delightful design features - fun to make but calling on a wide range of skills. Sadly it was one of those commissions that rushed out the workshop door before anything more than hasty snaps could be taken. So, it was lovely to run into these online shots of it recently thanks to the interior designer :-). It looks really at home in the stunning overall scheme. Quietly playing their part in the background are a pair of dresser bases and part enclosed chest of drawers that were also a delight to make.

Making bespoke furniture and woodwork requires a lot of different things coming together - skills, experience, the right tools, suitable materials, and somewhere suitable to turn all that into something special. None of that gets far though without good clients willing and able to take a chance on commissioning exciting projects - this was certainly one of those.

Photo credit for the shots in situ: Alison Henry Design Studio
https://www.alisonhenry.com/

Traditional English Woodwork

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