Oak Swill Basket Making: A Critically Endangered Craft
Our traditional oak swill baskets are hand woven in Britain, by maker Simon, The Bumbling Basketeer, using heritage techniques. These strong baskets can be used for heavy lifting, e.g. firewood or produce, or the tonal colours of the oak make a lovely addition to any room. Shop the collection below and learn more about oak skill basket making.
Oak Swill Basket Making: A Critically Endangered Craft
Our traditional oak swill baskets are hand woven in Britain, by maker Simon, The Bumbling Basketeer, using heritage techniques. These strong baskets can be used for heavy lifting, e.g. firewood or produce, or the tonal colours of the oak make a lovely addition to any room. Shop the collection below and learn more about oak skill basket making.
What is oak swill basket making?
Oak swill basketry is a critically endangered craft, with only a couple of makers left in the UK.
These oak baskets were originally native to the southern Lake District. They're surprisingly strong, and have been used for everything from carrying potatoes to transporting coal onto steam ships. In fact, they're so strong that they say swill making apprentices would test their product by standing on it!
Making swill baskets is a long and laborious process, involving splitting wood along the grain, cleaving, dressing, and weaving each piece by hand, echoing the methods passed down by the last remaining swill makers.
Swill basket makers generally have difficulty sourcing good oak, so potential swillers generally resort to managing their own woodland, and felling, extracting and processing their own wood. Needless to say, swill baskets are an extremely complex blend of skills!
Learn more via Heritage Crafts' Red List of Endangered Crafts below.
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Regular price£170.00 GBPRegular priceSale price£170.00 GBP Save £-170.00 GBP (%)Unit priceper16" Scottish Oak basket with hazel ribs and 2 willow hoops Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
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Regular price£170.00 GBPRegular priceSale price£170.00 GBP Save £-170.00 GBP (%)Unit priceper16” Scottish Oak Swill Basket with peeled hazel handle Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
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Regular price£140.00 GBPRegular priceSale price£140.00 GBP Save £-140.00 GBP (%)Unit priceper13” Scottish Oak Swill with hazel handle Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
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Regular priceFrom £295.00 GBPRegular priceSale priceFrom £295.00 GBPUnit priceperScottish Oak Bottle Basket Bag Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
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Regular price£80.00 GBPRegular priceSale price£80.00 GBP Save £-80.00 GBP (%)Unit priceperScottish Oak hen basket bag Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
About the maker: Simon Cooper, The Bumbling Basketeer
Simon creates traditional oak swill baskets using split wood techniques, reviving one of Scotland’s rarest heritage crafts. Working with oak and hazel, he cleaves, dresses, and weaves each piece by hand, echoing the methods passed down by the last remaining swill makers. His work blends utility with quiet beauty, rooted in the rhythms of rural craftsmanship. Oak swill basketry is a critically endangered craft, with only a couple of people practicing the craft in the UK.
How to make an oak swill basket
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