We believe we produce some of the highest quality timber around. Our oak and ash is so sought after, that we have links with customers in Scotland, Kent, North Wales and a lot of places in between. We’re renowned for our quality, precision and attention to detail along every aspect of our process, from tree to floor board. Although our English grown timber travels through the country on it’s way to beautiful homes, we do enjoy it when we get an extra spacial local relationship. Naturalmat are a Devon based mattress company striving to create a healthier more sustainable night’s sleep.
We were approached by Naturalmat in 2022, shortly after having bought one of their amazingly dreamy mattresses. Working in workshop crafting wood floors can put it stresses on our backs. So we thought it most important that we invested our sleep. Having visited their showroom in Topsham, we were very impressed with their business ethics and we found we shared the same sustainability goals as their company too. From sourcing local materials to caring about our workforce, the similarities were side by side.
Shortly after buying our mattress, Naturalmat dreamt of the idea of creating a truly traceable Devon Oak Bed, with provenance and locality being at the heart of the design. It was important to use wood that had been grown in managed Devon woodlands and estates, which was something that we could provide. All of our packs are labelled and recorded, so we’re able to pinpoint the exact location of each board on a map, down to the woodland the tree grew in.
When deciding on which timber to use, English Oak was chosen for its durability as well as its character and warm colour tone. The trees grown in the South West of England show a lot of character through pippy clusters, and small knots, which look beautiful once carved and crafted into a piece of furniture for your home. Much like our wooden floors, each wooden bed tells its own story and creates a unique chapter in your home.
Tom here at UK Hardwoods worked with Naturalmat to understand their requirements for character and tone when choosing boards. It was important to chose boards right for the cutting list given, and to reduce wastage as much as possible. These trees have frown for hundreds of years, and so using them wisely and to the best of their strength is important. Each board chosen will have been expertly sawn, and professionally dried for at least two and a half years before being ready for the workshop.
The wood left the workshop here and travelled down to the Blackdown Hills, to a small workshop only 30 miles away. Here each piece is lovingly machined and crafted into the profile form of the Devon Oak Bed. The final step sees it head off to the Perridge Estate, close to Exeter, where the metal fixings are carefully attached, the wood work is sanded, and then oiled in preparation for delivery and sleeping.
Using such a local source of materials and skills ensures the highest level of sustainability in creating this beautiful piece of furniture from our Devon Oak, with warm honey tones running through each bed created. Much like our ancestors would have done many years ago, sleeping around natural materials which would have been grown close to ones home, we can now do the same. With Devon grown wood flooring, and a Devon grown oak bed, topped off with a Devon made mattress, there’s no reason not to sleep soundly each night.
