A New Hembury

This year we were thrilled to see the new Hembury chair launched.

It had taken time. Years in fact. A lot of discussions, months of experiments, getting it wrong, then getting it just right.

And now, the Hembury is back. A chair with new design features and developments that make it better than ever.

Solidwool was born from the idea to take the unwanted and make it beautiful. The unique composite material and manufacturing process has been developed and fine tuned, to create a natural material with a story that connects people to the land it has come from.

The new Hembury now contains twice as much wool as the previous chair. That means one whole fleece from a Herdwick sheep makes its way into our chair - a fleece that unfortunately has little or no value in the current market. But when combined with our bio-resin this wool gives the Hembury chair beauty and soul, and gives purpose back to something that has been undervalued for so long.

We are also pleased to see a big improvement in our bio-resin. The bio content now makes up 50% of this resin and, even better, every chair contains half the amount than previously used. This means less resin and more bio content - making a chair that is stronger, lighter and better for our planet. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to sit still, we want to work towards using a 100% plant based resin to make Solidwool the most sustainable we can.

Solidwool is made in Devon by our knowledgeable and skilled team and we are proud to say the Hembury chair has an entirely British production. Made with sustainably sourced UK Ash, recycled steel frames made in Peterborough, and of course British Wool from the hardy Herdwick. We have also refined the design, with every chair shaped by hand giving a more streamlined and contemporary finish.

Simple lines, timeless appeal and hand-finished qualities make the Hembury a chair to be celebrated. Each one unique, it truly is a chair to be cherished, to make memories and to hand down through generations.

Home of the Herdwick

The Central and Western Lake District - big skies, bigger peaks and home to the Herdwick. A wild landscape where for centuries the Herdwick has roamed; tough and resilient with a smiling face.

Traditionally used in the carpet industry, this breed has fallen out of favour, with their fleeces now seen as a by-product of sheep farming. So some might question why we would use Herdwick in Solidwool, and what makes it so special?

A lot of this is down to the wool and where the Herdwick comes from. Currently, it is believed that around 95% of the breed are located within 14 miles of Coniston in the Central Lake District. So if you want to know the provenance of the wool in your Solidwool chair, we couldn’t explain it better than that. It is a wool that tells us everything we need to know about the breed and where it comes from: robust, resilient and wild. And when used in Solidwool, this wool is beautiful.

The Lakes have been shaped by the Herdwick. With high fells and harsh winters, the Herdwick naturally ‘heft’ themselves to the land, their grazing defining the landscape in this famous corner of the UK. Their wool boasts unique and durable qualities, with their fleece helping them endure the cold winters and wet weather in the fells. Lambs are born black, turning brown after a year with their fleece changing to grey as they age.

Herdwick Sheep fleece from the Lake District

And it is this dark, coarse wool with its lighter guard hairs that work so well in Solidwool. Other wools disappeared in our bio-resin, but the wiry grey fibres of Herdwick come to life, creating a composite where these light guard hairs stood proud - announcing that Herdwick is at the heart of Solidwool.

With Herdwick we can tell a story, and create design with soul and a sensitivity to the land it comes from. A story that connects Solidwool to this incredible, ancient breed and their environment.

To take the unwanted, and make it into something beautiful.