Traces of the West family in East Dean can
be found back to the 15th century.

Peter West, on leaving school, decided to
start his own wood turning company,
using skills which he had been perfecting during his time in education.
His company was based in the same premise as L West & Son,
a converted garage at 32 East Dean,
with him producing both work for L West & Son and for other clients.
In 1985 the opportunity arose for both
L West & Son and Peter to purchase a new workshop,
this was purchased from Goodwood Estate company.
On the 24th of May 1986 both L West & Son
and Peter moved their machines and tools from
the old premises at 32 East Dean to these new premises at
New Barn, New House Lane, East Dean.
This new premises gave both companies a
greater area in which to work and produce
their products.

While Peter's company remained quite small L West & Son grew,
employing more people and producing greater amounts of work for its clients.
In 1991 both Gil and Peter purchased some of the workshop's
surrounding land with a view of building a new premises.
In 1996 both Peter and Gil decided that the premises that they wanted to build was one
in which they could not only house stock undercover
but also where they could display some of their finished merchandise.
In February 1997 the construction of this building started
with the work on it mostly being done in the free time of Gil and Peter.
This certainly goes some way as to explaining the length of time that it took to complete.
This finished showroom was then officially opened in the form of three open days in
December 2000.