Reproduction of a 17th Century Settle for the National Trust

In early 2024 Wood Carving London was commissioned to make a reproduction of a 17th century ‘settle’ by Knole House, The National Trusts largest property. A settle is a wooden bench with a high back and arms, typically with a box or chest incorporated under the hinged seat. The high back, occasionally with wings at either end and even a canopy, would protect the user from draughts, so settles were most often positioned near the fireplace in grand living rooms.

The settle at Knole had been situated in the Outside Wicket Gate, the main visitor entrance to the house, along with three other pieces of carved furniture. Although under cover, the furniture had been outside for decades, offering respite to the thousands of visitors each year, and so understandably was looking quite tired. A conservation report from 2006 found the settle to have significant woodworm infestation, signs of rot in the lower legs and subsequent reinforcement added to the seat lid. In order to preserve the historic pieces, The National Trust decided it was time to move them inside to the attic rooms and have a full reproduction set made, the settle being the final and largest piece.

The first step for us was to visit Knole house and take extensive photographs and measurements of the original piece, gathering all the technical information we required. Our reproduction needed to be as similar to the original as possible, which meant studying the construction meticulously to figure out all the hidden joints. We found with the panelling for example, that the horizontal rails had chamfers (or dusting-splays) that went straight through the joints with the vertical stiles, so that the shoulder of the tenons needed to lap over at a 45 degree angle. These kinds of details were fun to analyze, stepping into the mind of the early modern carpenter and away from any contemporary machinery.

In the studio we drafted scale technical drawings to refer to, and tested our speculative joints, while waiting for our sizable timber order. As the furniture was to live outside, it was vital to use oak that had been slowly seasoned outside, rather than kiln-dried. English Woodland Timber had plentiful stock, and even a grading system so that we could use lengths with some character rather than premium grade.

We began with the larger panelled back, processing the timber in a systematic manner. With this later style of panelling, the chamfers, channels and mouldings run along the entire lengths before marking out and cutting any mortise and tenon joints. The floating panels themselves had chamfers to the rear of the piece, leaving a clean flat surface at the front with which to cut in the carved details. The supports for the hinged seat were dovetailed into the framework and the hinges themselves we had made by a blacksmith in Dorset.

We constructed the entire settle without any glue, the way it would have been done traditionally. As a result, we were able to fully assemble all the components before disassembling in order to work the carved details. For this task, we had taken carbon rubbings from the original piece, so quickly mapped out the designs with their simple symmetry and repetition. These carvings would have been produced in quantity and rapidly, with very little marking out and only a select few tools. We wanted to capture some of that energy, and passed the panels between our benches using only four shapes of chisels to make successive cuts, without being overly precious. The spiralling stems with seed pods that surmounted the scrolling arm rests were the final larger carved elements to be fixed on last.

With the carving complete we could reassemble the settle for the final time and peg it together ready for painting. In order to protect the furniture and match the external architectural woodwork of the house, the settle was to have a primer and two coats of ‘Knole House Blue”, a colour you can only have mixed in the local town of Sevenoaks. Being purists, we had to have some photos before the paint was applied.

The settle now resides happily in the Outer Wicket Gate, so if you find yourself fatigued after an awe-inspiring visit, make sure you take a seat.