Our Story

Whitney Sawmills, in Herefordshire, is a highly respected business established by local craftsman, Will Bullough in the early 1990s. At this time, Will had become increasingly frustrated with the quality of the timber available to him so he decided to try milling and drying his own materials at Whitney Sawmills.

Today, Whitney Sawmills is a UK-wide supplier of timber to businesses of all sizes, from the grand Dumfries House project in Scotland to one-man boat builders in Cornwall. Over the years the mill has supplied many exciting prestige projects such as fine Oak for the King’s Dining Room in Edinburgh Castle, or Sweet Chestnut for the royal row barge, Gloriana. More recent projects include milling Oak and Elm for the restoration of HMS Victory and, more locally, the rebuilding of Grade 1 listed Llwyn Celyn just over the border in Wales.

As well as supplying the varied demands of its customers, Whitney Sawmills also helps to keep rural employment and skills alive. Whitney Sawmills isn’t just a supplier; it is also a customer, buying timber from local landowners and helping to secure the jobs that they in turn offer. It has also always been a priority at Whitney to aim to benefit native woodland wildlife wherever possible, as so often it is lack of woodland management that is creating the greatest threats to many endangered species.

Seeing so many of its own objectives mirrored in practice at Whitney, the UK charity, Woodland Heritage, became the owner of the sawmill in 2016.

Whitney Sawmills has always supplied both UK and European hardwood and softwood timbers. With Woodland Heritage’s aim being to increase the proportion of native timber sourced from the UK, especially from the West Midlands and Wales we will continue to increase the amount of timber we source from this country.