A RARE table made out of vintage wood will go under the hammer at a charity auction later this month.

The table, made out of Waterloo Elm, was crafted from trees which were planted at Salisbury Cathedral to mark victory over Napoleon's French army in 1815.

Surviving in the Cathedral Close for more than 150 years, they fell victim to Dutch Elm disease, and were felled in the late 1970’s.

The timber was used to make new bookshelves in the Cathedral library, but left over timber was used to make a very limited number of furniture items.

Peter Dowden-Smith was a volunteer engineer in 1997 when he was offered the chance to buy the last Waterloo Elm refectory table made by the cathedral carpenters.

He has agreed to auction his Waterloo Elm table through an event organised by the Friends of St Lawrence Church in Stratford sub Castle along similar lines to the well-known BBC production, Flog It!

People can bring unwanted antiques, collectables, artworks, silverware, jewellery and militaria to the Reading Room in Stratford sub Castle on Friday, September 25 from 6 to 9pm.

Items will be received by local auctioneer Toogood & May, who agreed to share their sellers’ commission with Friends of St Lawrence.

Furniture and heavy items can be assessed in and collected from people’s homes earlier in the day, by arrangement. If owners are happy with the estimates, items will be sold at subsequent Toogood & May auctions, and owners will receive cheques in the post.

While owners wait their turn for item assessment, the Friends of St Lawrence will be providing glasses of wine and light refreshments, with live “Nuevo Flamenco” music from local guitar instrumentalist, Guy Halls.

For tickets or more details, contact Terry Ereira, 01722 501480 or tandc.ereira@ntlworld.com