Royal Sussex Trugs

A delightful garden basket that is both beautiful and practical. Collect vegetables or flowers in your garden for display and access on your kitchen counter. Handmade in England for The Parson’s Nose Antiques using historical techniques and sustainable materials by passionate craftsmen. Materials: Chestnut handle, frame, Willow straps, and solid copper tacks. Hand signed and dated by each maker.

Made for The Parson’s Nose Antiques by the Cuckmere Trug Shop in Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England- established in 1829. Makers of the original “Royal Sussex Trug”.

These trugs are made in the old way, by hand, in a workshops at Herstmonceux, Sussex.  Craftsmen who have a passion for this craft make and sign every Trug . All woods used in the making of these Royal Sussex Traditional Trugs come from sustainable resources in English woodlands and forests.

Available in two sizes:

• Small: 15" x 8" x 8” - SKU #STG4-15-8
• Large: 18" x 10" x 10” - SKU #STG4-15-8

History & Maker’s Profile:This is a genuine Sussex Trug Basket made by the Cuckmere Trug Shop, based in Herstmonceux, Sussex England, the successors of Thomas Smith Esq., who invented the Trug in 1829 in Herstmonceux Smith based his idea on an old Anglo-Saxon product- the “trog”, modernizing it to make it lighter and more versatile. The “trog” had been hewn from solid timber to make a wooden vessel that was used on farms in the Sussex area to measure grain, beer and milk.  These “trogs” were in several sizes, measured in pints, gallons, and bushels, as they still are today.In 1851 Mr. Smith ventured to London to exhibit at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park where the Crystal palace has been built.  Queen Victoria, visiting the show on the first day, was so taken by Mr. Smith’s Trugs that she ordered several as gifts for members of the Royal Household.  Smith’s Trugs became famous overnight! Legend has it that Thomas so prized his Royal order that he insisted upon make all the Trugs himself and he, with his brother, walked the 60 miles to Buckingham Palace to deliver them in pristine condition. He was awarded a Gold Medal and Certificate of Merit Fist class, to which he soon added others from The International Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh in 1854.  The International Exhibition in London in 1855 and the Exposiition Universelle Industrie beaux-arts in Paris, France in 1855 where he gained a Silver Medal and Certificate of Merit.  Robbin Tuppen, the current owner of the company has added Silver and Gold awards at the Courson Garden Show in France.