Video: Good grief... it’s an eco-friendly woollen coffin

A YORKSHIRE textile mill is fighting the economic downturn and doing its bit for the environment with the help of an unusual product range – coffins made of wool.

By The Newsroom

Published 2nd Sep 2011, 18:52 BST

AW Hainsworth at Stanningley, Pudsey, uses three fleeces to make each coffin.

It is now selling 120 a month in Britain for about £600 each and exporting to Finland, the USA, Germany, Holland and Australia.

Hainsworth owns the global patent for the range, which it calls Natural Legacy.

The firm was founded in 1783 and is a family-run business now in its seventh generation. Today’s boss, Adam Hainsworth, saw the potential in eco-conscious farewells and sourced the wool from Dorset and Southdown sheep, suitable for felting, to make the semi-rigid coffins and ashes containers.