Oxfordshire Woodland Group

A traditional device employed by bodgers in The Chiltern Hills was the saw horse.

This was used to raise a log off the ground so that it could be cross cut into short (chair leg) lengths. A long pole can be seen on the ground and presumably this was used to lever the log upwards and then then large pegs would have been inserted into a series of holes drilled into the top surface of the horse ramp to stop the log slipping downwards.

With heavier logs two saw horses could be used in combination (as illustrated above) to support the full weight of the log without need to rely on the pegs but more importantly so that as the log was progressively sawn then one saw horse could be removed and positioned further down the log without the need to drop the log back onto the ground and raise same again.

It is not known if these devices were used in combination with the sawpit to lift and scie-saw (rip) logs along their length.

Chilterns