A hand-carved oak memorial bench made for Cilla — a school cat whose story, by all accounts, reached far beyond the school gates. Her portrait is engraved into the backrest, her name beneath it, and the bench sits in exactly the kind of warm garden spot she would have approved of.
Cilla was one of those animals who make a school what it is: known to every child, present in the corridors, with the particular emotional intelligence that cats sometimes have and humans don’t always manage. When she died, the school wanted something that would keep her there — not a plaque, not a photo on a wall, but a place in the garden you could sit at and feel her company. The bench was made alongside a matching memorial chair (shown in the fourth image) as a complete garden tribute set.
The bench seats two adults at 140cm wide — or, as our commission notes recorded, twelve felines simultaneously. Your version can be made in memory of a school pet, a beloved animal, or a person. The portrait and inscription are worked out with you from your photos and brief. Prices include VAT.
Key Features
- Solid oak throughout
- Hand-engraved portrait and name of the animal or person remembered
- Bespoke design worked out from photos and your brief
-
Choose your finish — supplied unvarnished as standard, or add three coats of Epifanes yacht varnish for lasting colour and sheen (+£50)
- Two seater, 140cm wide
- Matching memorial chair available (shown in gallery) — ask about the full set
- Handmade in Mid Wales
Dimensions
- W140 × D60 × H120cm
- Seat height approx 45cm
Your Version
Send us photos and the details — who the memorial is for, where the bench will go, any inscription or carving you’d like. We’ll draw up a design and share it before anything is carved. Schools can order on a purchase order. Typical lead time is 4–5 weeks. Get in touch to start the conversation.
Finish
This piece is supplied unvarnished as standard. Left natural, solid oak slowly weathers to a soft, silvery-grey — completely normal for outdoor timber, a graceful way for a piece to age, and with no maintenance needed. If you’d prefer to bring out the grain and warm, honeyed tones, choose the varnished option (+£50) and we’ll hand-apply three coats of Epifanes, a premium marine yacht varnish.
More about the two finishes
Outdoor furniture takes a real beating from sun and weather. Left natural, an unvarnished piece simply silvers over time and asks nothing of you. A varnished piece keeps its rich sheen for a couple of years; after that the varnish may begin to flake or patch, at which point you can simply re-coat it, or let it weather back to that natural silvery-grey. Either way, your oak is fine.
