James Rowlinson left school at the age of twelve and started work sweeping up for a timber merchant. Progressing through the ranks to become a timber salesman. Ultimately, he decided to work for himself and started a small family business in the 1920s, as a brass plate sales agent buying and selling timber. Soon afterwards, land was purchased alongside the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Park Industrial Estate and in 1926 James Rowlinson & Sons was created.

At the time, the British Empire was an area for the export of capital goods e.g. steam trains, cars, and large consumer goods. So apart from timber for housing, with conventional freight, everything exported had to go in crates or packing cases. The site at Trafford Park, already a sawmill and timber yard, started to manufacture timber crates and packing cases for exported goods.

Through the decades the company expanded, importing timber from around the world and selling everything from timber carcassing for construction, to the finest veneers for high end motor vehicles. It also increased its manufacturing portfolio to include prefab housing panels, wirebound containers, agricultural buildings, roof trusses, pallets, shuttering, and much more.

The growth of the company saw a rise in the number of its sites across the UK and Europe. In the 1960s a twenty plus acres site on an ex-RAF aerodrome at Wardle in Cheshire was acquired. Today, the Wardle site is home to the head office of the Rowlinson Group and the key manufacturing site for Rowlinson Garden Products.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a shift from conventional freight to containers for shipping and the phasing out of softwood crates and boxes meant Rowlinson were looking for a new product to manufacture.

This led to the creation of the Rowlinson 6×4 shiplap shed, the first of its kind. A robust shed with the advantage of being manufactured from kiln dried South African Pine. DIY was becoming very popular and, with a retail back then of just £99.99, the shed proved to be a great success. Additional products followed soon after and thus, Rowlinson Garden Products was born.

Drawing from many years of timber knowledge, manufacturing expertise, and a passion for innovative new products, Rowlinson Garden Products soon became, and continues to be, a leading UK manufacturer and importer of an extensive range of garden structures, buildings, and storage solutions.

On top of that, we now offer a wide collection of garden furniture, grow your own and landscaping products meaning that today, there is a comprehensive range of over 400 products to suit all styles from the traditional cottage garden to the newer, more contemporary spaces. Developing a lot of the products ourselves also means that many are covered by design rights, registered designs, and patents. Still, our team are continually working to design and develop new products in an endeavour to bring you the very best choices for your garden.

...We’re passionate about providing great customer service and welcome any questions you may have. Whether it's a query about a product before purchasing or simply needing support in regards to an order already placed, our dedicated team are always on hand to help.

There are many exciting products to be found and we hope you find the perfect addition for your garden.