Peter Hall: Peter Hall & Son of Staveley is a leading contemporary hand made arts and crafts furniture maker, founded in 1972, following in the tradition of Arthur W. Simpson of Kendal and Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere. Known for its distinctive designs in locally grown air dried oak, materials, workmanship and design are always of exceptional quality. Pieces rarely come up for resale

English Oak: The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength

The Arts & Crafts Lakes School was a development of the Arts and Craft Cotswold School. The most significant designers and makers were Arthur Simpson, in Kendal, Stanley Webb Davies at Windermere and the Keswick School of Industrial Arts. Peter Hall of Staveley still produces furniture in this tradition. The Lakes School maintained the ideals with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, the use of beautiful locally materials and the focus traditional tools and techniques. In fact Stanley Webb Davies' workshop didn't use any power tools at all, even to cut logs from timber!The dominant material was English Oak and typical decorative details often include exposed joints and subtle carved details