A handcrafted oak bench made for Coton Orchard — established 1922 and hidden at the heart of a Cambridgeshire village — with fox, badger, bee and tree carved into the backrest, and the inscription that captures exactly what such a place is: “At the heart of a village, a hidden story, a wild home.”
Coton Orchard has been there for over a century: long enough to become something more than a garden, more than a fruit-growing space. It’s a habitat, a refuge, a place where the village’s wildlife has lived alongside its memory since 1922. The bench commission came from those who wanted to mark that — to give the orchard a seat that felt like it belonged there rather than arrived from a catalogue. The fox and badger sleep on the backrest in the way animals do when they feel safe. The bee is in the blossom. The tree is the orchard itself. The inscription says everything in eight words.
Prices include VAT.
Key Features
- Solid oak throughout
- Hand-carved fox, badger, bee and tree motifs in the backrest
- Custom inscription and heritage date (“Est 1922”) carved directly into the timber
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Choose your finish — supplied unvarnished as standard, or add three coats of Epifanes yacht varnish for lasting colour and sheen (+£50)
- Suitable for orchards, community gardens, village greens and public spaces
- Handmade in Mid Wales
Dimensions
- W140 × D60 × H120cm
- Seat height approx 45cm
- Three seater version available on request
Your Version
If you have a special place — a community orchard, a village green, a nature reserve, a school wildlife garden — that deserves a bench with its own story carved in, we can work with you on the design. Typical lead time is 4–5 weeks. Get in touch to discuss.
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.
