An oak bench is a long seat without arms or back, or sometimes with a low back, made from solid oak and intended to seat several people at once. In its simplest antique form it consists of a thick plank top supported on trestle ends or turned or square legs joined by stretchers.
Benches and forms were the principal seating in medieval and Tudor halls, where only the head of the household sat in a chair, and they continued in use in farmhouses, inns, schools, churches and servants' halls for centuries. Seventeenth-century oak benches made to accompany refectory tables are especially prized, with turned legs, moulded stretchers and pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. Later country examples were made by village joiners in oak and other native timbers. Collectors value a rich, untouched colour and patina built up through centuries of use, honest wear to the top and stretchers, and evidence of hand tools on the underside. Replaced tops, shortened legs and benches assembled from old timber should be examined carefully. Oak benches remain popular today, used at kitchen and dining tables, in halls and boot rooms, or at the foot of a bed, bringing warmth and solid character to any setting.
