When we tested the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress it was being sold for:

• £1149 in single
• £1399 in double or small double
• £1699 in king size
• £2199 in super king size. 

They also offer it in a zip and link option in two different sizes. 

Firmness level of the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

I found the labelling of the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress a little confusing. 

It comes with the option of ‘regular’ or ‘firmer’ versions, depending on your weight and build. However, the description says it has a ‘soft’ feel.

I concluded that the ‘regular’ version is the ‘soft’ version and the ‘firmer’ version is a medium tension mattress. I had assumed that ‘regular’ was a synonym for ‘medium’ but it seems not. 

We tested the ‘regular version’ (i.e. the soft version) but this does rather emphasise the importance of testing a mattress yourself.

Overall, I would rate this mattress as a 6/10 for firmness with 1/10 being a sponge pudding and 10/10 being a wooden plank masquerading as a mattress.

Rather unusually, I found that this mattress just about hit the sweet spot for me on firmness. That’s no guarantee that it will be right for you, but for my combination of weight, sleeping position and personal tastes it was just about right. For context, I weigh 13 stone and am six foot tall. I mostly sleep on my front.

I reached this conclusion after doing my usual routine of tests, as well as just lying on the mattress and making ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaah’ noises.

Firstly, I lay on my back to do the Spine Test. This is simple a case of seeing if your spine is supported or sinking when you lay on the mattress. I like to place my hand under my back to see how much of a gap there is between my back and the mattress. If it slides in easily then it’s too firm for me. If it’s a real struggle then the mattress is too soft.

This mattress was just about right (you’ll need to try out quite a few to determine what ‘just right’ feels like for you).

I also concluded that the comfort level matched the support level for me when lying on my front or back. Unusually, I could actually feel my lower back being supported by the mattress. This isn’t a sensation that I often feel (despite testing dozens of mattresses) and is a sign of the importance of trying plenty out before you take the plunge.

On my side, it was almost the right firmness for me. It might perhaps have been better if it was 5% softer. I concluded that it was about as close to a ‘right’ firmness level for me as I was likely to find. 

Edge support test of the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

So, we’ve established that the comfort level works for me. However, that’s not really of great relevance unless you happen to have an identical physique to mine (congratulations if so).

A more pressing question is how it performs on other tests of its quality.

The edge test and the Custard Slice test on the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

Our next step was to figure out if it offers strength to the very edges or whether the middle feels different. I like to lie on my side and shuffle to the very edge of the mattress, to see if it keeps me balanced or if I struggle to stay balanced. 

The John Lewis British Natural Collection Pocket Sprung Mattress performed very well. That is impressive considering it’s not as firm as some mattresses. 

I then sat on the edge, to see how it would perform whilst I was tying my shoelaces or putting on my comedy socks. In this regard, I felt that it compressed a little more than I would have liked. It wasn’t bad, but it was about average I would say.

I call this a Custard Slice test as poor quality mattresses behave like a custard slice when you bite into it.

Motion transfer (or the Wibble Wobble Test) on the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

The next question we explored in our test was how much motion transfer the mattress has. This is basically how much wobble and shift it has when you move about on the mattress. It’s particularly relevant if you share a mattress with someone else.

I would expect some wobble, as this mattress uses springs. The mattresses where I’ve experienced the least motion transfer have usually been firm foam mattresses.

Overall though, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a fairly bouncy mattress, but this didn’t seem to translate into a significant amount of sideways wobble. This is partly due to the way it is constructed, with the mattress held together with what is known as a ‘tufted finish’ (i.e. the little buttons on top).

Handles on the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

Finally, we gave a good inspection to the handles on the mattress. Some mattress handles can be quite flimsy and not really up to the task of the regular rotating that this mattress requires (this mattress is single sided, so you aren’t meant to flip it over).

We have a theory that a solid set of handles is an indication of quality throughout, in the same way that a restaurant with clean toilets is usually one with a clean kitchen.

The handles on the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress are suitably robust, which is excellent news.

Final thoughts on the John Lewis British Natural Collection British Wool 5750 Pocket Sprung Mattress 

We liked this mattress a lot. The support it offered for my weight and build was unusually good and this supported extended well to the edges. The design is more complicated and luxurious than a lot of pocket sprung mattresses, as it uses layers of springs and natural fibres. 

I wouldn’t say that it is particularly deep, which is sometimes the case with a mattress with lots of mini springs (that’s mostly because it’s a single sided mattress). It goes to show that depth isn’t much of an indicator of overall quality – as this is clearly a high quality product.

If you’re comparing different brands, see our full collection of mattress reviews to help you choose the best option for your budget and sleep style.