Osier bed

An osier bed or osiery is where historically willows were planted and coppiced to produce withies, which were used for basket making, fish-traps, and other purposes. The willow species Salix viminalis, known as the "common osier" was typically, although not exclusively, grown for this purpose. The marshy fringes of rivers, especially those which were often flooded and those with small islands, aits, eyots, or holts, were the most common locations for osier beds.[1] Willow rods (cuttings) would be planted, which root easily in moist ground, and the growth of the willow withies would be cut every one or two years.[2][3]

A dense growth of willows in marshy ground
Pavenham Osier Beds, in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Workers cut willows in an osier bed

Osier beds and basket-weaving using willow were a significant industry in Great Britain until the early 20th Century, when industrial machinery and the import of cheaper materials made them unprofitable and commercially unviable.[4][5][6]

References
  1. Bott, Val. "The Willow Business". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. "Gallica, Historical & Archaeological Interpretation: Farming". Archived from the original on December 30, 2010.
  3. Robertson, H.R. (1875). Life on the Upper Thames (Polling the Willow, Osier Cutting and Peeling — rural work for men and women). Virtue, Spalding, & Co. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. "The History Society Heritage Osier Bed". Twyford Allotments Tenant Association. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. "History of Holt Island & it's wildlife". Friends of Holt Island Nature Reserve. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. Robertson, H.R. (1875). Life on the Upper Thames (Osier Peeling — rural work for men, women, and children). Virtue, Spalding, & Co. Retrieved 26 April 2021.


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