The Company 

The Somerset Willow Company is a fourth generation family run business. For 50 years the Hill family of Somerset have made traditional and contemporary willow baskets. The company employs 24 key staff, of which 14 are trained basket makers.  Each basket maker completes a minimum five year training programme, reflecting a strong commitment to exemplary professionalism and ensuring our position as the leading UK manufacturer of environmentally friendly willow coffins and caskets. The Somerset Willow Company are pioneers in the manufacture of English willow coffins. They first started making willow coffins way back in 1998, at the time environmentally friendly wicker coffin and caskets were a totally new concept.   

Sustainability 

It is truly their belief that willow coffins are the ultimate consideration towards environmental recycling.  This is because willow grows up to 8ft in height in one year and because it grows from the same crown annually, it doesn’t need to be replanted each time it is harvested.  Willow requires little mechanical processing, making it one of the few truly environmentally renewable resources.  In addition, willow when buried under the ground decomposes far more quickly compared to hard woods.

click here to see a list of the environmental aspects of our willow coffins  

Willow Growing 

In 2006 in order to guarantee future willow supplies, the company established Somerset Willow Growers Ltd which processes, prepares and supplies finished willow material. Here the company based in Westonzoyland, Nr Bridgwater employs 5 staff and is situated only 5 miles from the Somerset Willow Company factory and showroom.

The Somerset Levels today remain the strong hold of the English Willow. This is because the habitats of the Somerset Levels are ideal for growing willow. Most seeds contain some Endosperm, which acts as a food supply. Willow seeds do not. 

The Future 

The Somerset Willow Company retains passionate traditional craftsmanship ensuring every willow coffin is produced to the highest standards.  Tradition on its own, however, is not enough.  A demonstrable understanding of modern design and changing market trends also plays an important role in ensuring the UK’s leading willow coffin manufacturer continues to go from strength to strength in the years to come.  

The catkins, which bear seeds, are lightweight making wind dispersal more effective.  This means that they can only germinate if they land in conditions that are immediately suitable, which is why willow tends to grow on damp ground. 

Evidence of willow in Somerset can be traced back to the Iron Age through woven fragments found on the site of Glastonbury Lake Village and also to Roman basketwork discovered in a Roman salt-making site on the River Huntspill.  Willow is as much a part of the Somerset Wetland landscape as the Kentish hop fields or Fenland vegetable crops.