Welcome To WHITTLE
Whittle is a small band of creative, crafts-people that have a deep love of their rural environment. We believe that it should not cost the earth… in every sense of the sentiment.
BESPOKE
We design each item, big or small alongside the customer, based on their unique requirements. No off the peg designs that are recycled over-and-over.
ENVIRONMENT
We use only locally sourced, sustainably harvested, native and naturalised species of timber.
HOW WE WORK
Give us scribbles and sketches and/or let our minds create. Get involved in the actual fabrication and the frame-raising or leave it all to us!
COST
We only deal directly with local saw mills to ensure true value. A customer’s budget can be determined on their projects needs first by discovering which wood best suits it.
ETHOS
WHITTLER SPIRIT
The words of Grey Owl ring heavy in our ears each time we set to making something from natural materials; “Nature does not belong to us, we belong to it”. People like Grey Owl and Aldo Leopold had a deep understanding of a “land ethic” one they describe more lucidly than we Whittlers ever could. Like most environmentally conscious people we know that every aspect of our lands flora and fauna are intrinsically linked… and we do what we can to avoid impacting upon this balance, through careful product and process selection.
TO THE POINT
We work with local saw mills to ensure we use timber that’s not only native and naturalised to the UK, but is often timber that has been harvested locally from the surrounding Cotswold estates. Because we deal directly with sawmills, there is no “middle-man” or merchant, so in many cases we can specify a timber that is both more durable and infinitely more attractive than the more commonly used tanalised alternatives.
DESIGN
When we are designing something for a customer we are careful to balance the site location and orientation, with the customer’s budget, in order that the finished product is durable and aesthetically pleasing. The joy of living in a country that has such diverse woodlands is; there is seldom an application that can’t be matched with the perfect timber.
SEE US ON INSTAGRAM
MATERIALS
WHAT WE DO
HOW WE WORK
“At whittle we have designed some interesting and unique structures for a huge variety of customers. Every customers design requirements and aesthetic desires are different. Because every individual is so very individual, we are always careful to keep the customers needs at the fore of our minds.
Over the years we have had some very imaginative people ask us to include some awesome little details that really personalise their project. We have used recycled timber from a tumble-down barn, to build a huge table. That, for the customer evoked little nuggets of nostalgia. We have been given scribbles and sketches to turn into realities… and we have had quite a few people want to get involved in the actual fabrication and the frame-raising.
We know only too well that simply owning something, doesn’t mean you have ownership of it. For many people, immersion in the process gives them this priceless aspect.
What gives us that vital sense of job-satisfaction is a combination of doing the best quality work possible, and seeing the look on the customers face when it finally all comes together. So, whether you want to be fully involved and get your hands dirty, or if you lead a busy life and just want to give us a brief and let us get on with it, then we can accommodate you.”
CASE STUDIES
FARM PARK CABINS
This is what we love… making unique, but very practical little buildings. Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park gave us a tricky little brief; Must sleep Four, Must look Unique, Must fit in, in their agricultural setting, Must be portable! Portable!!…
CAMPDEN GATES
These gates were designed to be evocative of the Arts and Crafts era. The customer had a very keen eye for era-authenticity, design-detail and material choice. The seasoned oak is all beautifully figured and is from Whitney on Wye saw…
COTSWOLD FARM PARK
Themed tables, chair and signs. We were excited to be approached by Adam Henson’s, Cotswold Farm Park, to create some quirky items for a children’s area that was to have an Alice in Wonderland theme. The brief was to make…
CONSERVATION
At Whittle we work with natural materials every day, when you spend your days working with your hands, cutting, chiselling and sawing through natures building blocks, it’s bound to affect you in a very profound way. The materials we use leave often leave indelible marks on our skin and souls… Dark indigo-stained fingers, from the Oaks tannins reacting with the steel of a chisel. The glistening claret of a slipped saw.
Each time we look in the mirror the accumulation of these little marks makes us contemplate our impact on the earth a little deeper. We try everything we can to keep our croc-print as shallow as possible.
As you would expect, we only use locally sourced, sustainably harvested timber. We may not be personally able to replace every tree we use, but since Rick has a background in arboriculture, he has planted a huge variety of different tree species around Whittle HQ. None of the trees will have a commercial value, we don’t intend to harvest any of them. They are there to provide homes and food for wildlife, a store for some carbon and… well… they look bloody lovely.
CONTACT
RICK HARTWELL
TEL : +44 (0)7837 893 279
EMAIL : rick@whittle.earth
MORNING DRINK : Hot Water
SPECIALITY : Traditional Timber Framing
ADAM HARTWELL
TEL : +44 (0)7834 829 480
EMAIL : adam@whittle.earth
MORNING DRINK : Black Coffee
SPECIALITY : Creative + Design
You can find us in WHITTLE HQ most of the time!
Cotswolds, UK
+44 (0)7837 893 279
info@whittle.earth