History
FURNITURE MAKERS
History
Bates and Lambourne was formed in 1979 by Richard Bates and David Lambourne. Richard’s grandfather began manufacturing chairs in 1919, trading as C. R. Bates & Sons. For over sixty years the company was an integral part of the Chilterns and High Wycombe tradition of chair manufacture, as well as making snow shoes for the military during World War II. David Lambourne was apprenticed to C. R. Bates & Sons as a young man, becoming a highly skilled traditional chair maker, a craft to which he devoted his entire working life.
In 1985, the Bates and Lambourne partnership became a triumvirate when Tony Smith joined the company. Tony, from a High Wycombe engineering family, had previously been working for some years as an antique restorer, cabinet maker and traditional wheelwright in Montgomeryshire, Wales. Soon after this, the workshop moved to its current location at Milton Common, Oxfordshire. Since then it has gradually expanded to a workforce of around a dozen skilled craftsmen, with different departments specialising in different areas of furniture production. In 2001, and with several thousand Windsor chairs behind him, David Lambourne retired. Josh Howard-Saunders, who had been employed as a cabinetmaker with the company since 1996, joined Richard and Tony in partnership in 2003, after achieving 1st class honours on the Design degree course at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe.
The company has always believed in having a broad portfolio of work, from individual items for private customers to large projects involving much design and development, and a lot of wood. We have undertaken work for many colleges, churches and other institutions, both in association with architects and designers, and directly with the client.
Stylistically, we have always worked to the needs of the client, whether that is a traditional country style, heavily antiqued and aged, or a clean, contemporary look. Whatever the aesthetic, our emphasis has always been on quality of workmanship, quality of materials, and durability.