A century-old set of chairs made from the wood of an ancient oak tree which stood outside St Martin’s Church in Caerphilly have been returned ‘home’.
The oak tree, which had been used as a focal point for town celebrations, was felled in 1913 and local miners’ lodges decided to have a complete set of chairs made from the wood its and present them to the old Caerphilly Urban District Council.
The chairs have now been presented to the church on loan from Caerphilly County Borough Council thanks to the help of the Caerphilly Local History Society.
Originally believed lost for some time, the chairs were found in council storage by former Caerphilly County Borough Council leader Lindsay Whittle. Mr Whittle had them on display in his office while he was leader.
The chairs however accidentally found their way back into storage following the local elections in May last year.
The chairs were officially presented to the church in a ceremony on Sunday.
Caerphilly Town Councillor Richard Williams, of Caerphilly Local History Society, said: “St Martin’s church is due to embark on improvement works which will include the addition of a history research room. Caerphilly Local History Society saw this as an ideal setting for the chairs to be put on public view.
“The service to formally hand over the Caerphilly Urban District Council chairs went well.
“In my address to the combined congregations of this parish I paid tribute to former leader, Lindsay Whittle, who did much to ensure that these chairs were not forgotten. Lindsay could not attend as he was in Birmingham but sent me an email thanking Caerphilly Local History Society for arranging this long-term loan which will enable the people of the borough to see these historic artefacts in the beautiful setting of the church where the oak they are made from was grown.
“I also thanked council leader Harry Andrews and its chief executive for graciously permitting the release of the chairs from council storage.
“Mayor Gaynor Oliver was thrilled to be involved in the formal handover and enjoyed the choral evensong, complementing Rev Cannon Donkin for ” a beautiful service.”
Good to see the chairs treasured and placed on public display rather than hidden away in an office or storage. The history research room sounds interesting too.