Vastern Timber, the Royal Wootton Bassett-based sawmill, is using two restoration projects it completed at the Tower of London this year to showcase its use of English oak and to make the case for British timber.
The firm supplied wood for the reinstatement of the historic building’s drawbridge as well for furniture for the restoration of its iconic Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.
The new drawbridge, pictured right, takes the place of one installed in 1915 – but not used since 1978 – which itself replaced one from 1834. The bridge, which spanned what was then a spanned a water-filled moat, allowed munitions to be taken into the basement of the White Tower from the wharf. 
The replacement drawbridge was unveiled in April after a five-month installation project and is now raised and lowered on high days and holidays.
Meanwhile Vastern, which also operates a sawmill at Studley, near Chippenham, also supplied the wood for the replacement of all the furniture in the Chapel Royal as part of a £1.5m restoration project. The historic chapel, pictured below, is said to be the final resting place of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.
Vastern director Tom Barnes said: “The Tower of London is one of the country’s most prestigious and popular tourist attractions, so it is wonderful to think that we have provided the timber that will be enjoyed by countless millions of visitors for many, many years to come.
“English oak is an ideal timber for these historic restoration projects. It is robust enough to last centuries and is the most iconic of the English woods.
“These projects also serve to underline the superior credentials of British timber. We are strong advocates of the Grown In Britain campaign which aims to raise awareness of the importance of choosing timber from well managed domestic sources over imported timber. 
“We consider these Tower of London projects to be a fantastic case study to illustrate that British timber can deliver at the very highest levels.”
Geoff Foers of GMT Timber Frames, which installed the replacement drawbridge, said: “The drawbridge was a very challenging and interesting project. Typically we would cut and prepare the wood at our premises and transport it to site for installation. However, for the Tower of London project we set up a temporary workshop on site in the dry moat which acted as our HQ and workshop for the six weeks of the installation.
“It’s important to a lot of our customers to use English timber instead of imported wood, and at the Tower of London we were very happy that we were using English oak. We have a very good relationship with Vastern Timber. They’re a great family company and good to work with. They pulled out all the stops to help us. We are very proud of the finished drawbridge.”
The drawbridge project was overseen by curators and surveyors from Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that cares for the Tower.
Vastern operates four log-converting bandmills, computer-controlled drying kilns and machining facilities at its two sawmills which enables it to process hardwoods and softwoods for a wide range of uses.
By cutting and processing its own logs it can offer a range of species, grades and specifications not widely available from other merchants.
The firm works with architects, builders, joiners, furniture makers and timber framers.
