Quality and value from the heart of the woods
For more than sixty years we have been supplying high quality timber products to meet the ever changing needs of our customers.
Our reputation has been built on quality products, great value and excellent customer service.
Located in the middle of the beautiful woods near Bristol Airport, the site has large display area with sheds and garden furniture, both timber and composite decking, fence panels, made to measure gates as well as its own shop and treatment plant.
Quality Wood that Lasts 10 Years+
Developments in timber preservation and the introduction of kiln drying allow us to offer timber that will last. By using two timber treatment plants on site, we offer a 10 year plus service life on ground contract material like posts, gravel boards, sleepers, decking etc.
The Fountain Store stocks a wide range of products from ironmongery and fixings, practical gardening and fencing requisites to woodcare and decorative and protective finishes.
One of the South West Largest Timber Suppliers
As one of the South West largest suppliers, we offer hundreds of different timber products to suit every style of garden at price to match your budget. Visit us on site or order online.
Our Story
1940s
The Fountain House
Fountain Forestry was created just after World War II, when the directors of Mathew Wrightson Limited, a Lloyds insurance company, together with some of the underwriting names at the time decided to invest in forestry in order to offset the costs of their income and reduce the high taxes they were paying post war. The name comes from the Fountain House, the prestigious post-war building in the City of London where they had their offices with a fountain in the entrance hall.
Pictured: The Fountain in the entrance hall of Fountain House in the City of London
1950s
Planting the land
Fountain Forestry bought Wrington Warren near Bristol in 1957. When purchased, the land was a mix of arable, rough pasture and small plantations. The head forester Walter Goldstone and his team of about twenty people planted and nurtured trees in the early days. They planted the better land in Larch, the poorer land in Pine. A large proportion was planted with Beech with softwood nurse crops, the softwoods were removed after 50 years to reveal beautiful Beech woodland that surrounds us today.
Pictured: Wrington woodlands surrounding Fountain Timber today
1960s
The Timber Yard
The timber yard you see today started life in 1967 when Walter Goldstone and his two sons Bernard and Richard, who also joined Fountain Forestry after leaving school, set up a processing and staging depot for pit props on their way from Devon to South Wales and Yorkshire. By 1972 the pit prop market had dried up due to mine closures and the depot switched to producing and selling untreated fencing stakes. It was staffed by three men with a tractor, a peeler and a caravan used as an office.
Pictured: The timber yard as it was (top left and bottom two) and the stakes being loaded (top right)
1970s & 1980s
The sawmill
In 1975 an on-site treatment plant was installed which enabled pressure treatment of the stakes to prolong their service life. In 1979 the decision was made to diversify into square sawn products to make more use of their large site and timber handling machinery. Sawmill equipment was bought from a closing sawmill and through a wet and windy winter the building was erected with production starting in spring.
During the 80s the depot expanded and indoor peeling and pointing line was added to increase the processing of stakes and the weighbridge was constructed to help cope with the growing number of heavy lorries using the site.
In the late 1980s Wrington Depot’s name was changed to Fountain Timber Products Ltd
Pictured: Inside the sawmill (left) and building the mill (right)
Timber yard 80s Building of the weighbridge
1990s & Beyond
Expanding
As the needs of our customers were changing so did the company. Fountain Timber expanded production to include an on-site joinery workshop for production of gates, sheds and garden buildings.
New office building was also built with the on-site shop. Soon after a second treatment plant was installed.
In 2012 the original shop was extended and the whole display area was redesigned.
We developed many new product offerings from traditional fencing materials to contemporary garden and landscaping products.
Pictured: The office building being built (top left), second treatment plant (top right) the old old shop, shop extension being built, the new extended shop (bottom left) and redesigned displays (bottom right)
Today
A strong heritage
We are proud of our heritage. Sons, grandsons, granddaughters from these original workers have worked in or remain in the business and by sharing their skills and experience help Fountain Timber stay one of the largest and best known independent timber merchants in the region offering quality products, great value and excellent customer service to this day.
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