Did you know orcas swim in UK waters? Neither did we, until Cathy told us.
She'd been coordinating a memorial project for a much-loved local man named Mick Bensley, whose community wanted to mark his memory with something permanent on Rottingdean seafront — that stretch of East Sussex coast tucked between Brighton and Newhaven. The brief was to create a bench that felt genuinely of the sea. Not a generic park bench with a plaque, but something that belonged there.
Cathy did her research. She wanted a whale, but she wanted it to be real — a species that actually inhabits the waters just beyond that seafront. And there it was: the orca. Leaping, powerful, unmistakable. As it turns out, orcas do visit UK waters. We were as surprised as anyone.
So that's what we built.
The bench is hand-carved from solid oak. The orca leaps across the full width of the backrest, set against a sea of hand-carved rolling waves. Those waves continue down the sides and across the base of the bench, so the whole piece feels as if it's emerging from the water. Two central armrests divide the generous seat — built to DDA-compliant dimensions so it's comfortable and accessible for everyone. Every surface has been carved by hand, in our workshop.
It's now sitting on Rottingdean seafront, exactly where it should be.
We love commissions like this one — pieces with a real story, built for a specific place and the people who'll use them for years to come. If you have a memorial, a community project, or simply a space that deserves something truly special, come and talk to us.
You can find the full listing in our Memorial Bench collection, or take a closer look at the Orca Bench here.
