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Oak, the traditional timber for British furniture
Oak has long been valued for its durability, toughness and attractive grain.  It is not surprising therefore that some of the earliest British furniture, the simple wooden chest or coffer from which the chest of drawers evolved, would have been made of oak.  The oak chest was a truly ubiquitous piece of furniture, being used for storing everything from money and jewellery to weapons and linen – in fact anything of value.  One of the advantages of keeping valuables in one strong wooden box was that, when living in turbulent times, it was possible at a moment’s notice to carry or cart the box to a place of safety.   

The oak chest continued in use in its simplest form right up to the 20th Century, being used as a trunk or sea chest until gradually being replaced by boxes made of other materials.  This is not the end of the story however, as the development of the dovetail joint meant drawers – open boxes that could be drawn out of a cabinet – could now be added to the basic oak chest.  Two drawers added to the base of an oak chest meant that small or valuable items could be reached easily without having to unpack the contents of the whole chest.   

This proved such a good idea that more and more drawers were added to the chest – until it became the oak chest of drawers.  Of course chests of drawers are available in countless different materials but oak is a traditional choice due to its associations with the original wooden chests. During the 16th and 17th Centuries oak was in plentiful supply as it covered large parts of the country.  It was a universal construction material – the steel or plastic of its day.  Oak wood was used for everything from buildings and furniture to carts and warships, in fact almost everything that was made would have had a version made of oak.  

Oak, the universal building material
Oak is a relatively slow growing tree and produces a dense timber that does most things well.  It is, for example, not as rot resistant as sweet chestnut when used for fencing, but it is still a very good material for fencing.  It cannot be carved as easily as lime, but is still a good wood to carve and – to some – its grain may not be as pretty as that of walnut or mahogany but it is still beautiful.  A perfect material in fact, for making an oak chest of drawers.  

Supplies of oak continued to be plentiful until the middle of the 18th Century when the demands for more ships for Britain’s Royal and Merchant navies began to use the timber at greater rates.  But perhaps the biggest impact was the onset of the Industrial Revolution that demanded wood for iron making before the method of using coal was perfected.  This took far more timber than would have been needed to make an oak chest of drawers for every household in the country and was a time when people first realised that maintaining oak woodlands for the value of their timber was important.  The Forest of Dean on the Gloucestershire borders was one of the first areas in the country where woodland management with a view to future timber needs began to be practiced.

Hearts of Oak and oak chests of drawers
The Forest of Dean is generally thought to have been the source of the oak used for building such famous ships as the Mary Rose and HMS Victory – the world’s oldest naval ship still in commission. Indeed, such was the importance of Britain’s oak woodlands to the Royal Navy that its official march is Hearts of Oak.  This crucial material, used to build the ships of what was once the world’s most powerful navy, was also used to build the altogether more humble oak chest of drawers.

The next big demand on the oak woodlands of Britain came with the advent of the First World War.  Trench warfare characterised the fighting on the Western Front and it devoured huge supplies of wood to shore up the sides of the trenches and dugouts.  Oak woodlands across Britain were clear felled to meet the demand.  When the First World War ended it was realised that Britain’s woodlands had a strategic value to the defence of the country – without timber supplies, it was argued, Britain would have been unable to prosecute the war.  Consequently, in 1919 the Forestry Commission was established to protect Britain’s native timber resources.  

Despite the early work of the Commission, timber production is a long term process and so there was still a shortage of wood during the Second World War even to the extent that, for a short period, it was actually a criminal offence to make wooden furniture.

We hope our extensive selection of oak chest of drawers has helped in your search for great quality furniture.