About Us
A brief history
The Barnes family has been involved with wood and furniture for over one hundred years. In 1904, my great-grandfather Leonard Barnes and Mr Branch built two factories to construct reproduction furniture for the booming High Wycombe furniture trade. Production continued up until the Second World War, when one of the factories was commandeered to make wings for Mosquito aircraft. After the war, Leonard’s sons Gerry and Bertram returned to the Bridge Street factory and restarted the business by using old beech stocks to make wooden heels for ladies’ shoes. The factory went on to supply the furniture trade with planks and components made from beech trees grown nearby in the Chiltern Hills. Barnes Branch still thrives today as timber merchants and machinists, with Gerry’s son Peter at the helm.
In 1974, extra log cutting capacity was required. The Barnes family bought the Vastern Timber sawmill at Wootton Bassett, which specialised in the production of elm coffin boards. Today, this site is managed by Bertram’s son Jon. In 1982 a second sawmill near Chippenham was also purchased in order to supply the growing demand for British oak.
Vastern today
Vastern Timber is now one of the largest British hardwood sawmills in the country, specialising in cutting British timbers – such as oak, chestnut, ash and Douglas fir. We are passionate about our native woods, and believe that they are some of the most beautiful grown anywhere in the world.
Our two sites in Wiltshire have four log-converting bandmills, computer-controlled drying kilns, and well-equipped machining facilities. This enables us to process both hardwoods and softwoods – from the tree to the finished product.
Vastern Timber is still family-owned, and we believe in a hands-on approach. It would not be unusual to see one of the Barnes family on the back of a machine or grading your timber order.
With some of the largest stocks of British hardwoods, modern processing facilities, and a personal approach to serving our customers, we offer unbeatable service on any size of order – large or small.