Shed of the year 2024, Sponsored by 
This is such a special shed, it’s made totally from an old oak tree in the garden, that had become rotten and had fallen.
So we asked our friend Jack, who is a tree surgeon and chainsaw carver, to make good on what he could of the oak.
We came up with the idea of a very quirky, unique shed with pitched roof & carved bird to sit proudly on top. We wanted to keep the oak as ‘alive’ looking as possible & tried to create the illusion of it growing up through the deck.
The entire structure including the handmade oak roof shingles are all what was salvaged from the tree.
To give the ceiling a more aged woodland feel, we burnt old recycled pallets with a blowtorch.
We also added decking which overhangs a newly revamped woodland/wildlife pond. There was a large tree stump growing, so we incorporated this into the new decking & using a chainsaw, Jack carved us ‘Hedwig’ the owl.
Unfortunately, we have a lot of family members who are recovering from cancer’s or are having cancer treatment. We wanted to create an area for them, where they can go and just relax & to let all the worries of the day escape. The bird song is amazing in the woods & the trickle of the new waterfall, is such a calming, beautiful place to find some peace and quiet.
Even though I have been asked to hold weddings at Serendipity - this is purely for family and friends to enjoy. We really hope, days sitting here relaxing, is going to be the best medicine for some of our guests.
We started the project around March this year and it’s an ongoing project. We plan to make more pieces of handcrafted furniture from the rest of the fallen oak. We have lots of planting round the shed to do, using acers,, wisteria, passionflower etc.The pond is only 2 months old, so very early stages but again it’s coming along..Our garden is approx 3 acres and is quite formal. Serendipity has been created in a woodland area which was a Christmas tree plantation, we had some of this cleared 3 years ago and up till this year, was just brambles, old fallen shed and broken deck, also a sad looking pond that was hidden under sludge..Walking round the garden, you really are not expecting to find something like this - it really does feel like you have found a secret ‘shed’ and so far, not one person has been able to resist sitting inside and relaxing.
