Royal Wootton Bassett based Vastern Timber, has supplied premium English oak to the restoration work at the Tower of London. The Sawmill has supplied wood for the reinstatement of the drawbridge which dates back to 1834, as well for the production of furniture for the restoration of the iconic Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.
Following years of planning and five months of construction, the drawbridge has been completely reinstated and officially unveiled. Tom Barnes, Director at Vastern Timber said, “English oak is an ideal timber for these historic restoration projects. It is robust enough to last centuries and is the most iconic of the English woods. The Tower of London is one of the country’s most prestigious and popular tourist attractions, so it is wonderful to think that we have provided the timber that will be enjoyed by countless millions of visitors for many, many years to come.
“These projects also serve to underline the superior credentials of British timber. We are strong advocates of the Grown In Britain campaign which aims to raise awareness of the importance of choosing timber from well managed domestic sources over imported timber. We consider these Tower of London projects to be a fantastic case study to illustrate that British timber can deliver at the very highest levels.”
Geoff Foers at GMT Timber Frames who installed the drawbridge said “The drawbridge was a very challenging and interesting project. Typically we would cut and prepare the wood at our premises and transport it to site for installation. However, for the Tower of London project we set up a temporary workshop on site in the dry moat which acted as our HQ and workshop for the six weeks of the installation.
“It’s important to a lot of our customers to use English timber instead of imported wood, and the Tower of London we’re very happy that we were using English oak. We have a very good relationship with Vastern Timber. They’re a great family company and good to work with. They pulled out all the stops to help us. We are very proud of the finished drawbridge.”
For more information please visit www.vastern.co.uk
Tower-of-London-Drawbridge-1
Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula
Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula