6 Scarborough’s Handle Emporium

Four Candles? – Scarborough’s Handle Emporium

People often ask me, ‘Kev, where would you go to buy handles in Scarborough?’

Well, I would have said ‘Try Clock Handyman on Victoria Road, or B&Q, or the special handle place on North Street,’ but that was before I discovered H E Savill on St Martin’s Place. It’s unprepossessing and their external signage is minimal.

But, when we were looking for wardrobe and drawer handles for the new furniture at popular Scarborough b&b The Waves, someone told me to try Savill’s and I discovered it was only round the corner and I’d passed it hundreds of times. It turned out they were one of the country’s leading suppliers of reproduction handles, clasps, escutcheons and pretty well every sort of brass fitting and filigree you could ever want – including replacement brass parts for military chests, doors, drawers, windows, tables… everything.

Savill’s is predominantly a wholesale business serving the antique and reproduction trade – they don’t make the handles and other items themselves, but they get them made and then distribute them on to those who need handles. And who amongst us can say that we don’t need handles? You know, without handles, life would be a series of closed doors, missed opportunities and ultimately dissatisfaction. Savill’s are working as hard as anyone to change that.

When I knocked on Savill’s door and asked if they sold direct to the public I was told they did and I was directed up a glorified ladder to the stock room lined with hundreds and hundreds of boxes full of handles. It was handle nirvana and after pulling a few cardboard boxes from the shelves to show me samples I found just what I wanted.

It’s the kind of place that I didn’t think existed any more – no frills, doing what they do and doing it well. Supplying handles.

H E Savill, for all your handle and related requirements – 01723 373032.

Kevern
2009