A withy or withe (also willow and osier) is a strong flexible
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
stem, typically used in
thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
,
basketmaking, gardening and for constructing woven
wattle hurdles.
[Life on the Upper Thames](_blank)
by H. R. Robertson (1875), chapters II-IV The term is also used to refer to any type of flexible rod of natural wood used in
rural crafts
Rural crafts refers to the traditional crafts production that is carried on, simply for everyday practical use, in the agricultural countryside. Once widespread and commonplace, the survival of some rural crafts is threatened.Mapping Heritage Craf ...
such as
hazel
Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...
or
ash created through
coppicing
Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...
or
pollarding
Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice h ...
.
Several species and hybrid
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s of willows (often known as osiers) are grown for withy production; typical species include ''
Salix acutifolia'', ''
Salix daphnoides'', ''
Salix × mollissima'', ''
Salix purpurea
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
'', ''
Salix triandra'', and ''
Salix viminalis
''Salix viminalis'', the basket willow, common osier or osier, is a species of willow native to Europe, Western Asia, and the Himalayas.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K ...
''.
[Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .]
Places such as
Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...
and Withy Grove (both in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
) take their names from the willow woods and groves that grew there in earlier times. The
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south ...
remain the only area in the UK growing basket willow commercially.
Use in water navigation
Withies were used to mark minor
tidal channels in UK harbours and estuaries. In many places they remain in use and are often marked on navigation charts. At high tide the tops of a line of withies stuck in the mud on one or both sides of a channel will show above water to indicate where the deeper water lies. Note the images of international navigation-chart symbols for withies (port and starboard).
Beyond the buoyage: exploring tidal creeks
Yachting Monthly, March 25, 2020
See also
*"The Bitter Withy
The Bitter Withy or Mary Mild ( Roud #452) is an English folk song reflecting an unusual and apocryphal vernacular idea of Jesus Christ. The ''withy'' of the title is the Willow and the song gives an explanation as to why the willow tree rots from ...
", a folk song
*Coppicing
Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...
*Fascine
A fascine (pronounced ) is a rough bundle of wikt:brushwood, brushwood or other material used for strengthening an earthen structure, or making a path across uneven or wet terrain. Typical uses are protecting the banks of streams from erosion (a ...
* Widmore, London, a suburb named for the withy
*Willow Man
''Willow Man'' is a large outdoor sculpture by Serena de la Hey. It is in a field to the west of the M5 motorway, near Bridgwater in Somerset, South West England, near to the Bristol to Exeter railway line and south of junction 23 of the moto ...
, a sculpture in England
References
{{reflist
External links
Willows in the farming landscape: a forgotten eco-cultural icon
(2022)
Salix
Building materials
Natural materials