From York to Scarborough – Why Our Benches Have Yorkshire Names
Posted on August 20, 2026
Take a look through the Woodcraft range and you might notice something familiar about many of the names.
There’s the York, Beverley, Scarborough, Knaresborough, Staxton, Wykeham and Helmsley – a collection of names that reads almost like a journey around Yorkshire.
That is no coincidence.
Woodcraft UK was established in East Yorkshire in 1990 and, as the range of handcrafted outdoor furniture developed, our home county provided a natural source of inspiration when it came to naming many of our designs.
More than three decades later, those Yorkshire names have travelled considerably further than we ever imagined.
The York – Our Flagship Bench
Perhaps the best known is the York Bench, a design that has become something of a Woodcraft signature.
Available in several lengths and with different arm and top-rail options, it has been commissioned for everything from private gardens and memorials to parks, hospitals, cemeteries and some of Britain's best-known public spaces.
We have even taken the York design and curved it, enlarged it and adapted it for individual locations.
Despite all those variations, its origins – and its name – remain firmly Yorkshire.
Beverley, Scarborough and Beyond
The Beverley Bench offers a slightly lighter and more elegant interpretation of the traditional hardwood bench, while the Scarborough is instantly recognisable by its distinctive curved seat and back.
Then there are names such as Knaresborough, Staxton, Wykeham and Helmsley, each attached to a different Woodcraft design and each retaining that connection with the county where the furniture is made.
It's a simple naming convention, but after so many years it has become part of Woodcraft's identity.
Yorkshire Made, But Certainly Not Yorkshire Bound
The nice thing is that these very Yorkshire-sounding benches haven't stayed particularly local.
Over the years Woodcraft furniture has travelled the length and breadth of Britain and much further afield.
Our benches can be found in London parks and historic gardens, beside churches and village greens, in private gardens, cemeteries and public spaces. Some have even crossed the Channel and travelled overseas.
There is something rather satisfying about a bench carrying the name of a Yorkshire town or village ending up hundreds – or sometimes thousands – of miles from the workshop where it was made.
Still Made Here in Yorkshire
The designs may travel, but the craftsmanship remains at home.
Woodcraft furniture continues to be handcrafted at our workshop in Hull, East Yorkshire, using the combination of traditional woodworking skills, modern equipment and durable timbers that has characterised our work for more than 35 years.
So wherever you encounter a York, Beverley, Scarborough or one of their Yorkshire-named relatives, there is a little piece of Yorkshire behind it.
And we rather like that.
If you'd like any more information about our benches then click the links below:
