The Rising Popularity of Beechwood Timber in UK

Consistently one of the most underrated timbers around and yet a stellar multitasker, it seems the time of European Beech has finally come.

Over the past year, traffic trends and interest in beech (fagus sylvatica) have shot up tenfold. In fact, our most popular W.L. West & Sons article ever is 9 Things You Need to Know About Beechwood.

Tough and heavy, beech is a doer rather than a looker, often in use behind the scenes and out of sight. Joiners and carpenters particularly make much use of this very versatile hardwood.

We’ve been lauding the properties of beech for years, so here are a few more facts to feed into the trend.

Beech Wood Colour & Characteristics

A hardwood with a notoriously thin and delicate bark, the beech wood species exhibits a silvery fleck pattern on the outside, while the heart and sapwood are of a pale cream colour. Occasionally susceptible to insect attack and root rot, beech is hard but not durable: it does not perform well for outdoor use.

Hard, bendable and easily split along a straight grain, Beech has a consistent, uniform texture.

Beech Wood Properties & Uses

Typically known for being an excellent fuel and firewood, Beech offers many properties that positively make it a crime to condemn it to the pyre.

Although a hardwood, Beech retains a large amount of movement and bendability in service. Among other things, this means that it responds superbly to steam bending and machining for carcase construction and furniture framing. It also responds well to staining, especially via a steaming process, during which it turns a reddish-brown.

This bendability, combined with its plain appearance and overall affordability, makes beech extremely useful to carpenters and joiners, who rely on its strength and discretion for the integrity of their projects.

NB: Beech can result in spectacular spalted wood effects as well, such as this spalted beech tabletop.

Beech in the UK

Widely grown on the South Downs National Park and in the Chilterns, Beech trees are straight and prominent and can be very white, occasionally with some colour in the heart. It is easily worked, with a close grain and fine texture. However, unlike Oak it is non-durable and so best used for internal joinery and furniture.

Recently, we started a trial period with the Cowdray Estate felling some of their Beech, grown a few miles from us on the South Downs and milled into waney-edged plank and kiln-dried. We offer the resulting products into the UK market. With FSC and Grown in Britain certifications, what’s not to like? If this trial is successful, we will be asking Cowdray for further felling.

Beech Is Not Just Firewood

There is a good supply of Beech across the South of England, and we really should be doing something better with it than just firewood. These trees have been growing for decades if not centuries: to see them cut for firewood is wrong.

Better than burning, we can create beautiful furniture or excellent joinery. We know our customers’ imaginations will find the best ideas to better let the timber shine through. For more information on the properties and uses of Beech, read our more detailed article here.

We really want all hardwood users to start using a wider range of species more regularly. For us to source the variety of species, we need an interest in using them.

WL West & Sons Ltd is a timber merchant and sawmill business with 150 years of experience. We provide a wide range of air-dried oak and kiln-dried oak timber products and supplies. We also build and install custom projects for our customers.

Our wood products, building materials and certified wood are manufactured and sold with the endorsement of forest certification and the Forest Stewardship Council FSC

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