Cozy Coffins Made from Yorkshire Wool
APRIL 7, 2011 TAGS:
The long beleaguered British textile industry may have found a stroke of “shear” luck.
Hainsworth Inc., a 225 year-old wool mill, provides wool for the headlining of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys and the uniforms for the guards at Buckingham Palace. In 2009, they also began producing biodegradable, un-dyed, woolen caskets.
Brits have warmed up to natural burial in recent years. The number of natural burial sites or cemeteries has risen from 54 to 260 over the last decade, according to the Natural Death Center.
But Hainsworth’s decision to get into the coffin game has earlier influences. As Time magazine reports, the idea for the woolen coffins was inspired by Great Britain’s glorious history of government trade subsidies. An intern at Hainsworth discovered that in 1667 Parliament passed a law demanding that all dead bodies be wrapped in a woolen shroud prior to burial. The Yorkshire wool industry benefited greatly.
Hainsworth has neither Parliamentary support, nor a monopoly death shrouds, but they’ve seen modest growth. Adam Hainsworth, the company’s commercial director tells Time:
Domestic sales now total 50 to 60 a month. [He] is confident the firm can capture 5% of the U.K. market within a few years, and ultimately reach a market share of 15% to 20%. "We expect it to become our biggest-selling product," he says. Moreover, Hainsworth has also begun selling the fully biodegradable caskets in the U.S. and other foreign markets.
Hainsworth Inc., a 225 year-old wool mill, provides wool for the headlining of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys and the uniforms for the guards at Buckingham Palace. In 2009, they also began producing biodegradable, un-dyed, woolen caskets.
Brits have warmed up to natural burial in recent years. The number of natural burial sites or cemeteries has risen from 54 to 260 over the last decade, according to the Natural Death Center.But Hainsworth’s decision to get into the coffin game has earlier influences. As Time magazine reports, the idea for the woolen coffins was inspired by Great Britain’s glorious history of government trade subsidies. An intern at Hainsworth discovered that in 1667 Parliament passed a law demanding that all dead bodies be wrapped in a woolen shroud prior to burial. The Yorkshire wool industry benefited greatly.
Hainsworth has neither Parliamentary support, nor a monopoly death shrouds, but they’ve seen modest growth. Adam Hainsworth, the company’s commercial director tells Time:
Domestic sales now total 50 to 60 a month. [He] is confident the firm can capture 5% of the U.K. market within a few years, and ultimately reach a market share of 15% to 20%. "We expect it to become our biggest-selling product," he says. Moreover, Hainsworth has also begun selling the fully biodegradable caskets in the U.S. and other foreign markets.
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