Est. 2003 · Coxley, Somerset
A barn, a lathe, and twenty years of practice.
Lil Woods started as one person making one toy in a rented barn in Somerset. It is still that — just with more lathes, more wood types, and a repair bench that has seen thirty years of play and sent toys back out the door.
The barn, Coxley — 2024
How we make things
Traceable wood
Every piece of wood is FSC-certified and logged with its source. We know the forest, the batch, and the cut date.
Lifetime repairs
Send any Lil Woods toy back to us and we will repair it. No time limit, no conditions. A toy that lasts is a toy worth making.
Natural finish
We use beeswax oil from a Somerset apiary three miles away. It is food-safe, renewable, and topable at home with a cloth.
Made in Somerset
Every toy is made in the same barn in Coxley. We don't outsource. We don't stockpile. We make to order.
Twenty years, one barn
First cut
Martha Ellwood buys a second-hand lathe and starts making toys in a rented barn in Coxley, Somerset. The first toy — a simple stacking ring — takes three attempts to get right.
Open days begin
The workshop opens its doors on the first Saturday of the month. Families arrive to watch the lathes turn and take home something still warm from the finishing bench.
The repair promise
Every toy sold from this year gets a lifetime repair promise. No time limit, no quibbling. If it breaks, send it back. Toys that outlast their first owner are toys worth making.
FSC certification
All timber sourced exclusively from FSC-certified suppliers. Every batch of wood is logged with its forest of origin — so we know where every toy came from, years after the fact.
128 toys, one barn
The range grows to 128 toys across six wood types. The barn is the same. The lathe is newer. The beeswax is still from the same apiary three miles away.
The people
Martha Ellwood
Founder & head maker
Twenty years at the lathe and still the first in every morning. Martha designs every new toy by hand, starting with a pencil sketch and finishing with a test with her granddaughter Bea.
Dan Okafor
Wood sourcing
Dan has spent the last decade building relationships with forestry co-operatives across the UK and Scandinavia. He knows every batch of wood that comes through the door.
Priya Menon
Finishing & quality
Every toy leaves the workshop through Priya's hands. She has turned away more toys than we care to count — the ones that nearly made it are the hardest.
Tom Wells
Repairs & restoration
Tom runs the repair bench. He has seen toys come back from thirty years of play. His job is to make them ready for thirty more.
Visit the workshop
Open the first Saturday of every month, 10–4. Kiln Barn, Coxley, Wells BA5.