Back sleepers who like firm should buy the Shire Artisan Ouse Pocket 2000 Mattress. It doubles the 1000's spring count with small nested pocket springs, keeps the wool and cotton fillings and the double-sided build, and sets the feel at firm. Side sleepers, especially lighter ones, should stay on the Ouse 1000.
Small springs, a firmer feel
The core is small-diameter pocket springs, each in its own sleeve, nested together and edged with a flat rod-edge metal frame so you can use the full width. Above them sit natural fillings, wool and cotton among them, under a hand-tufted viscose cover. It's 32cm deep, double-sided, with turning handles and air vents.
More, smaller springs support you at more points, which is why I'd take the 2000 over the 1000 if firm is what you want. The spec describes one layer of small springs, not minis on top to inflate a total.
For people who lie on top of a mattress
Average and heavier back sleepers who like to lie on top of a mattress rather than in it will be happy here. Front sleepers who need their hips held level will be too. Avoid it if you're light or sleep on your side, because firm will press at the shoulder; the 1000 is the gentler choice.
The one owner who names the 2000 found it too firm for the first fortnight and comfortable after, swapped from memory foam for the cooler natural fillings, and warns it's heavy and won't fold up the stairs. The rest of the shared reviews say much the same: firm, solid, heavy. My last house had the kind of narrow stairs that would have beaten it, so measure the turn before you order.
Turn it every few months, using the handles. Turning a double-sided mattress with natural fillings pays you back: both sides share the wear and the fibres keep their loft.
Owners across the Ouse range agree it's firm
Archers shows one set of reviews across all three Ouse mattresses, and read that way they back the 2000's label: several owners call theirs firm, a few very firm, and they're comfortable with it.
One owner puts it level with an old Hypnos of theirs. Another chose an Ouse because it has no memory foam on top and can be turned over, which they always prefer, and I like a buyer who knows exactly what they want. What I'd want from any Ouse is exactly that: natural fillings on both sides, and the option to turn it.
What to buy instead
The Ouse 1000 is the softer, cheaper sibling for side and switching sleepers. If you need extra firm, the Ouse 3000 goes one step harder, though I'd only send heavy back and front sleepers there.
