A carved oak garden bench that reaches toward the sky — celestial sun, crescent moon and drifting clouds hand-carved into solid oak, with a bird on each armrest and words that belong to someone you love cut into the timber below.
Every Wishing Star begins the same way: with a name, a date, and the words that feel exactly right. The version pictured carries a robin on the left armrest and a blue tit on the right, with the inscription "I'm wishing on a star… to follow where you are. Forever loved Gary Bolton, May 8th, 1962." Another carries the words: "Yesterday is History, Today is a Gift, Tomorrow is a Mystery." Both feel right — because the best tributes always do. The bench takes its name from that gentle belief: that those we lose become something we can still look up to.
Built from solid oak and finished with three coats of Epifanes matt varnish for all-weather resilience, the Wishing Star will stand in a garden, churchyard or school grounds for generations without lifting, cracking or losing its depth of colour. It seats two comfortably at 140cm wide; a three-seater at 160cm is available for school or community settings. Prices include VAT.
Key Features
- Solid oak throughout — no softwood, no MDF
- Hand-carved celestial scene: sunrise, crescent moon, drifting clouds
- Carved bird on each armrest — choose your species (robin, blue tit, swallow, owl and more)
- Personalised inscription carved directly into the timber — no plaques, no metal
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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)
- Available as two-seater (140cm) or three-seater (160cm)
- Handmade in Mid Wales
Dimensions
- Two-seater: W140 × D60 × H120cm
- Three-seater: W160 × D60 × H120cm
- Seat height approx 45cm
Your Version
Tell us who the bench is for — the name, the dates, the words you'd like carved. We'll work through the inscription with you and share a design drawing before we begin. Typical lead time is 4–5 weeks; we can often work around tight deadlines for memorial unveilings, anniversaries or school events. 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.
