Natural fillings, two sleeping sides and a medium-firm feel: the Shire Artisan Ouse Pocket 1000 Mattress is the one I'd recommend in the Ouse range for most people. That pairing is rare for the money, and it's what you're really paying for here. Natural fibres sleep cooler than synthetic ones, and turning it shares the wear. The catch is the spring count, which is on the low side. The 32cm depth also needs deep sheets.
Wool, cotton, silk and cashmere over pocket springs
The pocket springs move independently, under deep layers of cotton, wool, silk and cashmere held in place with woollen tufts. The cover is viscose, with air vents and turning handles, and it's double-sided at 32cm deep. Shire describes the feel as medium to firm and suited to people who switch between their side and back.
Natural fibres are what I'd pay for here. Wool handles moisture and keeps you cooler, and natural fillings last well. Silk and cashmere sound grand on a label; I'd treat them as a small part of the mix rather than a reason to buy.
The extra you pay over the cheaper Shire Spectrum Luminaire Pocket 3000 buys the fillings. Both are medium to firm and double-sided, both hand-tufted under a viscose cover with turning handles. The Luminaire is white fibre at 27cm, and the Ouse is wool, cotton, silk and cashmere at 32cm. If, like me, you hate being too hot in bed, that's money well spent.
Measure your sheets, and plan how it gets upstairs
At 32cm you're past what a standard fitted sheet will stretch to, so buy deep-pocket sheets before the mattress arrives. Check the height on your bed frame too: one owner says the bed is now high enough that they tiptoe to get on.
Pay for the two-person room-of-choice delivery if it's going upstairs. Archers' free delivery is a lone driver who goes no further than the ground-floor door, and this is a deep, heavy mattress. One owner with a king from the range found it a handful to move even with handles on the sides and ends, and paid the extra to have it carried up. Turning it every few months is a job for two as well.
The Ouse ladder
The three Ouse mattresses share this build and differ in feel. The 1000 is medium to firm, the 2000 firm with small nested springs and the 3000 extra firm. Pick your rung by the feel you want, and let the spring count come with it. The owner reviews are shared across all three and they're happy ones, with one caution: across the range owners keep calling these firm, and one needed a topper, so expect the 1000 nearer the firm end of medium to firm. Would I buy the 1000? Yes, for a couple who switch positions.
What to buy instead
If you sleep on your back and like firm, step up to the Ouse 2000. If you want a turnable mattress with synthetic fillings for less, the Shire Spectrum Luminaire Pocket 3000 has a fuller spring layer.
