Bespoke joinery · Herefordshire · Est. 1987
Joinery made slowly, to be lived with for a hundred years.
From a hop kiln on the edge of the Malvern Hills, six makers turn English oak, walnut and ash into kitchens, staircases, wardrobes and restored period windows. Drawn by hand, cut by hand and fitted by the people who made them.
- First bench, first oak
- 1987
- Makers under one roof
- 6
- Average distance our timber travels
- 38 mi
What we make
Six kinds of work, one way of doing it.
Every piece is drawn for one house and one family. We do not have a catalogue, and we have never wanted one.
Fitted kitchens
Frame-and-panel kitchens in solid timber, with dovetailed drawers and worktops cut to the way you actually cook.
Oak, ash or painted
Staircases & balustrades
Straight, winder and helical stairs cut from the solid and fitted without a creak. Newels turned in-house.
Oak, walnut
Wardrobes & dressing rooms
Floor-to-ceiling storage scribed to the lean of an old wall, with hanging, drawers and shelving planned around your clothes.
Painted or waxed
Sash & casement windows
Period windows repaired where they can be saved and replicated where they cannot, with slim double glazing or crown glass.
Listed-building experience
Doors, porches & screens
Ledged and braced, four-panel, arched or glazed. Front doors and oak porches that suit the house they join.
Oak, sweet chestnut
Alcoves, libraries & shelving
Bookcases that fit the room as if the builders left a gap for them, including ladders, rails and hidden lighting.
Ash, oak, walnut
Under the paint
Joints we still cut by hand
Through dovetail
Every drawer, cut by hand to a 1:6 slope. It will outlast the glue that holds it.
Pegged mortise & tenon
The joint that has held up barns and cathedral roofs, drawn tight with an oak peg.
Open bridle
Strong, honest and quick to cut, used for door frames, sash rails and light frames.
Our process
From first cup of tea to last coat of wax.
Four steps, one point of contact, and the same hands from sketch to screw.
Consult
We visit, measure and listen. A free site visit anywhere within 40 miles of the workshop, with a pot of tea and no pressure to commit.
Usually within a week of your first call
Design
Hand-drawn elevations, timber and joint samples, and a fixed-price quote. Anything fiddly is mocked up full size so you can lean on it.
Fixed-price quote in about two weeks
Make
Made in our workshop by the people who will fit it. Send us your questions, or come and watch your piece grow at the bench.
Typically 8 to 16 weeks
Fit
Scribed to your wonky walls, with floors protected and the dust swept up. We do not leave until the last door closes softly.
Aftercare visit at 12 months
Featured projects
Recent work, around the county.
A few commissions from the last three years. Illustrations stand in until the photographer is done with the plaster dust.
Materials & sustainability
Good timber, kept close to home.
Most of our oak comes from within a morning's drive. We know the woods, and often the tree.
English oak
Our workhorse. Strong, handsome and local.
English walnut
For stair rails and interiors that glow.
Ash
Pale, springy and perfect under paint or oil.
Sweet chestnut
Rot-resistant, ideal for porches and doors.
Cherry
Warms to a deep amber over the years.
- 38 miaverage distance our oak travels to the workshop
- 3 for 1native saplings planted for every tree we use
- 0 skipsevery offcut becomes kindling or heats the workshop
Our commitments
- Timber from local estates, hedgerow thinnings and FSC-certified stockists only.
- Air-dried and then kilned slowly in our own hop kiln, so joints stay tight for decades.
- Hard-wax oils and water-based paints. Low odour, repairable, and safe in a nursery.
- Repair before replace: we will tell you when your old joinery can be saved.
Kind words
What clients say, years later.
They saved eleven of our twelve windows, which three other firms told us was impossible. You cannot tell the new sash from the old, and the house is finally warm.
Margaret & Tom AldousHay-on-Wye, sash windows
Rob drew the kitchen at our own table and drew it better than we had imagined it. Two years on, the drawers still glide and the oak has gone the colour of honey.
Priya NairHereford, fitted kitchen
A staircase in a Grade II rectory is a nerve-racking job. The team were calm, careful and tidy. The Bishop admired it, and he is hard to impress.
The Revd. Colin HartleyLeominster, oak staircase
Request a quote
Tell us about the room.
A few lines is plenty. We will ring you within two working days to arrange a free site visit, then send a fixed-price quote in about two weeks.
- Free site visits within 40 miles of Ledbury
- Fixed prices, no surprises at fitting
- A named maker as your single point of contact
Prefer to talk? Call 01432 555 014 or email quotes@hollowoak.example.
Contact
Come and see the workshop.
Ring, write or just turn up on the first Saturday of the month. There is usually a kettle on and always something half-finished on the bench.
- Telephone
- 01432 555 014
- Workshop
- The Old Hop KilnHollow Lane, near LedburyHerefordshire HR8 1XX
- Hours
- Monday to Friday8am to 5pm
- SaturdayBy appointment
- First Saturday10am to 2pm, all welcome
Not to scale. Sat-nav will find us; the hop kiln will confirm it.