English yew from a Hampshire graveyard, on three of our favourite knives.
English yew from a Hampshire graveyard, on three of our favourite knives.
Price range: £280 through £990
Three knives that cover the whole board: our flagship nakiri, a Japanese-influenced chef’s knife and a small utility knife for the hand. Handled in yew, which is harder than oak at the same weight and remarkably unbothered by water. Buy the set, or choose the one you need.
Our yew comes from a Hampshire graveyard. Botanically it is a softwood, which is immediately and utterly misleading.
It is the densest conifer in Europe, and on the Janka scale it is about a third harder than English oak at precisely the same weight. It also declines to take on water. Yew is one of the least permeable softwoods ever measured, so resistant that industrial pressure treatment struggles to get more than a few millimetres into it. For a wooden handle fixed to a piece of steel that has no intention of moving with it, that matters a great deal.
We have tested this, unintentionally. Arabella has a yew-handled knife that has gone through the dishwasher every month or two for three years. The handle hasn’t moved. It has lost some colour, which a few minutes with a fine abrasive and a little oil brings straight back.
And it looks like nothing else. Yew runs from cream through honey and orange to russet and dark brown, with pale sapwood colliding into deep heartwood and grain that wanders wherever it likes. No two handles are alike.
Each knife in the Yew Trio is made from Sandvik (Alleima) 14C28N, a modern Swedish stainless steel, hardened in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere process. The heat treatment takes the steel from 1080°C to -75°C in a controlled cycle that maximises carbide formation, edge stability, and corrosion resistance.
The blades are concave ground to 0.3mm thickness at 1mm from the edge. This geometry reduces drag and improves slicing performance without sacrificing rigidity. Every Savernake knife is sharpened to 15° per side.
CATRA, the global authority on cutlery performance, rank our blades in the top 2.5% of all blades ever assessed for initial sharpness and edge retention, tested to ISO 8442-5.
Washing
Wash by hand and dry immediately. The steel handles dishwashers, but the handle materials don’t, and the blade will dull faster regardless. Ten seconds at the sink is the right habit.
Day-to-day maintenance
A honing steel realigns the edge between sharpenings. Two or three passes per side before heavy use is enough. You don’t need to do this every time – just when the blade starts to feel less certain.
Sharpening
We offer complimentary workshop sharpening once a year for the first three years. After that we sharpen at cost. If you prefer to sharpen at home, our blades are ground to a 15-degree bevel – specify this if you use a third-party service, as most sharpen to 20 or 22 degrees as a default.
Storage
A magnetic strip or knife roll is ideal. Loose in a drawer accelerates dulling and risks chipping the edge. If a drawer is the only option, a blade guard solves both problems.
Handle care
Yew is unusually stable, but its colour sits in compounds near the surface that light and detergent both lift, so it will mellow over time. A little food-safe oil once or twice a year keeps it rich. If it ever looks washed out, a fine abrasive and some oil bring the colour back.
Yourself
“Old Yew, which graspest at the stones / That name the under-lying dead”
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850)
Every Yew Trio knife is made to order. We aim to despatch within 4 weeks. If you have a date in mind, get in touch and we will usually be able to help.
All orders are delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed in specially-designed tubular Savernake packaging. A signature and age verification will be required on delivery.
We charge a £40 flat rate for delivery worldwide.
Lifetime Guarantee
With proper care, our knives are guaranteed for a lifetime of use
Unique Concave Geometry
Our signature blade profile. A cutting edge with only the thinnest sliver of near-parallel steel to follow through.
CATRA Top 2.5% Worldwide
Independently ranked in the top 2.5% of all knives ever assessed for sharpness and edge retention
60 HRC Hardness
Hardened in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere and cryogenic treatment to -75°C
Individually Crafted
Every knife is made by hand in our Wiltshire workshop, from steel selection through to final edge
Like some more options?
Our configurator lets you choose from 18 blade designs, with full control over handle material, shape, spine pattern and accent colour.Â
