The Timber Route


Timber Village forms part of the scenic Timber Route. The Timber Route was created to give visitors an opportunity to visit various woodworkers, timber yards and crafters, giving visitors insight into the beauty of this precious raw material.
Knysna’s history is woven around its rich natural heritage – the indigenous forests. For many years the forests were mercilessly robbed of their rich resources, supplying timber to the furniture, construction and mining industries. Towards the end of the 18th Century, European stock farmers and woodcutters had established themselves in the Knysna forest district.
In 1804, the British Royal Navy needed timber for shipbuilding and looked towards Knysna’s huge indigenous forests for their supplies. George Rex, considered to be the founder of Knysna, had established himself as a timber merchant in the area. He was co-operative when approached to supply timber, and persuaded the Navy to ship out timber through the Heads. A successful attempt was made in 1817, and Knysna was established as a port.
Over a century ago, in the 1880’s, Mr George Parkes, a Birmingham Industrialist, had difficulty in sourcing and importing sufficient quantities of manufactured wooden handles from the USA for the range of ‘edge’ tools produced by his factory. During a business visit to South Africa he saw the possibilities of a more stable source of supply. He purchased the Knysna forest Company with over 3400ha of forest at Knysna, a small primitive sawmill in the forest and a mill conveniently situated in the centre of Knysna.
Over a period of time extensive destruction of the forests occurred due to indiscriminate harvesting of the timber. Measures were put in place to preserve and maintain the forests.
Many years passed before legislation was put in place, to cancel the rights of wood-cutters to fell trees in the forests, and an act was passed which made provision for the payment of a small pension to each of them.
The indigenous state forests in the Southern Cape were consequently closed from 1939 to 1967 to allow them to regenerate. Today, the forests are still managed according to strict conservation principles.
Knysna quality handcrafted furniture is famous the world over, made from carefully selected indigenous timber. Using traditional joining methods, these pieces remain highly sought after collectors items.