| The trestle table design goes back to ancient Roman | | | | this day as those seated are not effected by the legs |
| and Greek times, they were the folding table of the | | | | of a traditional table with fixed corner legs. |
| age. The top rested on a base of some sort and it all | | | | Trestle tables are an important part of Americana |
| collapsed for easy storage. They became popular in | | | | usually accompanied by spindle backed chairs. This |
| the Middle Ages when castles and forts were meant | | | | modern version of the trestle is of a higher quality than |
| for defense and the people who lived in them would | | | | the original often made of oak and braced with a |
| gather in a common room to eat. After dining the table | | | | stretcher beam. A keyed tenon runs through the |
| would be cleaned and put away. The royals would | | | | center of each trestle and is typically supported by a |
| retire to their chambers and the staff would pull up | | | | waxed high-quality oak tabletop. |
| some straw and blankets and sleep where the table | | | | The Amish create their tables out of native woods like |
| was. | | | | the early Mediterranean and Europeans. They like to |
| During the day the common room or the great hall as | | | | use red oak, hickory, quarter-sawn white oak, walnut, |
| they were known was again cleared and used as the | | | | cherry and maple. The modern Amish table is very |
| Lords deemed fit. As time went on castles became a | | | | versatile and is well-suited for seating a wide range of |
| symbol of power and less as a place of defense and | | | | styles like formal dining chairs such as a Windsor or |
| population centers grew also known as cities. Castles | | | | Mission slatted back to solid wood benches as were |
| and manors were functioning more like homes which | | | | used in the Middle Ages. |
| needed furniture and craftsmen started to build more | | | | The predecessor to the trestle table was called the |
| ornate pieces. Around the 1500\'s the trestle table | | | | table board and frame style, being a long plank of |
| became an important piece of furniture. | | | | wood resting on a frame of several trestles also called |
| In ancient Rome this style was made of stone or | | | | horizontal beams. The legs were designed to be easily |
| marble and was basically a pedestal-style table. By the | | | | dismantled for storage and were very practical for |
| Middle Ages the trestle table was often a few boards | | | | travelling. The bridges of wood were pegged and |
| set on top of trestle legs making it collapsible and | | | | braced to he tabletop. |
| easily moved or stored. | | | | With its two pedestals fastened to a horizontal |
| In the 16th century the basic trestle design was made | | | | stretcher with stout tenons and locked into place with |
| more static and the gate-leg and refractory tables | | | | wedges the trestle table is born. For a little Gothic twist, |
| were created. With the ease of assembly and | | | | add an arched stretcher with cut stopped champhers |
| storage this design of table has been very popular to | | | | in the legs and the stretcher. |