Gardening > Sussex Garden Trug
For the boards of his Trug Thomas selected Cricket Bat Willow (Salix Coerulea) which, because Herstmonceux is right on the edge of the Pevensey Marshes, was in plentiful supply on this rich growing ground. He split the Willow using wedges and sledgehammers before sawing them into slats by hand and then hand shaving these slats to form the boards of his Trug. These boards were light in weight and perfectly complimented the strong Chestnut frame. They were fixed using solid copper tacks and the legs were finally added, using copper clout nails. The larger Trugs were not given feet but had two straps fixed from the handles underneath the boards to give extra strength. The No.8 Trug (also known as a Half Bushel Trug) still has those straps today.
When Thomas made his trugs there was a ready market for them on farms and in gardens throughout England. However, it was not until, in 1851, when he attended The Great Exhibition held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, that he made his true mark on the world. It was there, on the first day, that Queen Victoria visited his stand and was so impressed by his product that she ordered some personally as gifts for members of the Royal Family. Well, with that sort of patronage Thomas was bound to win!!! Legend has it that when he returned to his workshops in Herstmonceux, being mindful of the debt which he owed to Queen Victoria for his new found patronage, he began to make the trugs himself. He then walked the 60 miles to Buckingham Palace in London, with his brother, pushing a hand cart to deliver his prized trugs in pristine condition. He obviously sold more to the Queen because he was awarded the Royal Warrant, hence the Royal Sussex Trug name. Thomas was also awarded a Gold Medal and Certificate of Merit at the show and we still have the Certificate on display in our Trug Shop today.
In 1855, he attended the Exposition Universelle Industrie beaux-arts in Paris, France, where he was awarded a Silver Medal and Certificate of Merit signed by Napoleon Bonaparte III (a descendant of the famous Napoleon). To our knowledge this was the first time that Trugs were exported outside of the United Kingdom and this shows the true entrepreneurial flair that Smith possessed. In later years Smith had more successes in exhibitions, notably The International Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh 1884 and in London The International Exhibition in 1885.
Over the years the Smith family continued to run their business in Herstmonceux. They faced competition from many other copycat companies which sprang up in Kent and Sussex and even as far west as Somerset. After the First World War Smith's moved from their original base in Hormes House to a redundant Army Barracks further west in the village, still on the main road, where we craft Thomas's famous product today. The wood and corrugated iron building built as a temporary home for the British Army is now the home of the ancient art of trug making!
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For the boards of his Trug Thomas selected Cricket Bat Willow (Salix Coerulea) which, because Herstmonceux is right on the edge of the Pevensey Marshes, was in plentiful supply on this rich growing ground. He split the Willow using wedges and sledgehammers before sawing them into slats by hand and then hand shaving these slats to form the boards of his Trug. These boards were light in weight and perfectly complimented the strong Chestnut frame. They were fixed using solid copper tacks and the legs were finally added, using copper clout nails. The larger Trugs were not given feet but had two straps fixed from the handles underneath the boards to give extra strength. The No.8 Trug (also known as a Half Bushel Trug) still has those straps today.
When Thomas made his trugs there was a ready market for them on farms and in gardens throughout England. However, it was not until, in 1851, when he attended The Great Exhibition held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, that he made his true mark on the world. It was there, on the first day, that Queen Victoria visited his stand and was so impressed by his product that she ordered some personally as gifts for members of the Royal Family. Well, with that sort of patronage Thomas was bound to win!!! Legend has it that when he returned to his workshops in Herstmonceux, being mindful of the debt which he owed to Queen Victoria for his new found patronage, he began to make the trugs himself. He then walked the 60 miles to Buckingham Palace in London, with his brother, pushing a hand cart to deliver his prized trugs in pristine condition. He obviously sold more to the Queen because he was awarded the Royal Warrant, hence the Royal Sussex Trug name. Thomas was also awarded a Gold Medal and Certificate of Merit at the show and we still have the Certificate on display in our Trug Shop today.
In 1855, he attended the Exposition Universelle Industrie beaux-arts in Paris, France, where he was awarded a Silver Medal and Certificate of Merit signed by Napoleon Bonaparte III (a descendant of the famous Napoleon). To our knowledge this was the first time that Trugs were exported outside of the United Kingdom and this shows the true entrepreneurial flair that Smith possessed. In later years Smith had more successes in exhibitions, notably The International Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh 1884 and in London The International Exhibition in 1885.
Over the years the Smith family continued to run their business in Herstmonceux. They faced competition from many other copycat companies which sprang up in Kent and Sussex and even as far west as Somerset. After the First World War Smith's moved from their original base in Hormes House to a redundant Army Barracks further west in the village, still on the main road, where we craft Thomas's famous product today. The wood and corrugated iron building built as a temporary home for the British Army is now the home of the ancient art of trug making!
PREVIOUS
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If you have any questions you want to ask or any information you want to share please visit our friendly community forum.
Here are some of the topics being discussed at the moment:
- Organic Gardening Home Page
- Buy Gardening Books in The Green Chronicle's Book Store.
- See other Gardening Websites in The Green Chronicle's Directory.
- Visit The Green Chronicle Shop for seeds and garden products.
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