Compass Caravan Mattresses

Compass Touring Caravan Mattresses

Compass is one of the most recognisable names in British touring caravan manufacturing — a brand with a complicated history and an enormous legacy of caravans still being towed across the country every weekend. The story begins in 1978 when Siddle Cook and his son Ray set up a new caravan manufacturing operation at Langley Park in County Durham. Siddle was no newcomer to the industry. He was the founder of Elddis — the brand name being his own Christian name, Siddle, spelled backwards — and having sold that business to ABI in 1973, he started Compass as his second venture in caravan manufacturing. The new company quickly established itself, and by the mid-1980s Compass was producing a full range of touring caravans from the Durham factory, competing directly with the mainstream British brands.

In 1998, Compass was brought back together with Elddis under the umbrella of the Explorer Group, and in 1999 the factory relocated from Langley Park to a larger purpose-built facility at Consett, also in County Durham, where all production was consolidated. The Explorer Group manufactured Compass, Elddis, Buccaneer, and later Xplore from this single site. In 2009, the group temporarily retired the Compass brand to focus on the Elddis name, but it was relaunched in 2013 with a new range built using the same factory and construction methods but sold through a separate dealer network. In 2017, the Explorer Group was acquired by Germany's Erwin Hymer Group, which was itself taken over by the American conglomerate Thor Industries in 2019. Then, in September 2023, Erwin Hymer Group UK confirmed that Compass had been dropped from the range for the 2024 season onwards. The brand is currently retired, with no plans for a return.

A Touring Brand — Why This Changes Everything About the Mattress

Compass was a touring caravan manufacturer, not a static caravan builder. This is a fundamental distinction that affects every aspect of mattress replacement. A static caravan sits on a pitch and never moves. A touring caravan is towed behind a car, often at motorway speeds, and every component inside it must be designed with weight, space, and road vibration in mind. The mattresses in a touring caravan are not simply smaller versions of domestic mattresses — they are purpose-built components shaped to fit specific bed platforms, frequently with cut corners, curved edges, or tapered profiles that follow the bodywork of the caravan.

Touring caravan beds also function differently from the beds in a static. Many Compass models used a front lounge that converted into a double bed at night by rearranging the seat cushions around a central table dropped to cushion height. Others featured fixed beds at the rear — island beds, French beds, or twin singles — that stayed made up at all times. Some had drop-down bunks, dinette conversions, or fold-out arrangements that created sleeping space from what was a seating or dining area during the day. Each of these configurations requires a different mattress solution, and none of them uses standard domestic dimensions.

Forty-Five Years of Models — And Over 850 Variants

Between 1978 and 2023, Compass produced an extraordinary number of caravan models across numerous range names and annual revisions. Specialist databases record more than 850 individual Compass variants over that period. The bed dimensions changed with almost every new model year, and even within a single range the different layout numbers (denoting berth count and floor plan) produced entirely different bed sizes. A Compass Rallye 530 has a different bed from a Rallye 574 which has a different bed from a Rallye 636. The range name tells you almost nothing about the mattress dimensions — only the specific model number and year will narrow it down, and even then you should measure the actual bed platform to be certain.

The earliest Compass caravans from the late 1970s and 1980s — models like the Rally (later spelled Rallye), the Omega, and the Connoisseur — were compact touring caravans with fold-out beds, relatively narrow body widths, and interior dimensions governed by the towing regulations of the day. Through the 1990s and 2000s, models like the Corona, Magnum, Shadow, Vantage, Amazon, Rambler, and Concerto expanded the range in every direction — from lightweight two-berth tourers for couples to twin-axle six-berth family caravans. The bed platforms in these models vary enormously, from narrow dinette conversions barely wider than a single mattress to generous fixed doubles at the rear.

The 2017 Revamp — Casita, Capiro, and Camino

The most significant change in Compass's recent history came in 2017, when the entire range was replaced with three new model families that would define the brand for its final years of production. The old Corona, Omega, and Rallye names were retired, and in their place came the Casita, the Capiro, and the Camino.

The Casita was the entry-level range — the name translating from Spanish as 'little house.' Available in up to seven models including two groundbreaking 8ft-wide variants (the 840 and the 866/868), the Casita offered lightweight construction with a remarkably full specification. The 8ft-wide models were particularly notable — Compass, through its parent company, was the first British manufacturer to produce caravans at this width, and the additional space transformed the interior proportions. The bed platforms in an 8ft-wide Casita 840 are substantially wider than those in a standard-width Casita 550, despite both carrying the same brand name.

The Capiro sat in the middle of the range — four models (the 520, 550, 554, and 574) with Alde central heating as standard and a higher interior specification than the Casita. Every Capiro weighed under 1,500kg MTPLM, keeping them within reach of a wide range of tow cars. The bed arrangements included front lounges converting to doubles, fixed rear island beds, and fixed twin singles depending on the layout number.

The Camino was the premium offering — available in both single-axle and twin-axle configurations with a sporty exterior design and the highest level of interior appointment in the Compass range. The twin-axle Camino models (the 660 and 674) were substantially larger caravans with more generous bedroom proportions, but the single-axle models (550, 554) shared the same body width as the Capiro and Casita while offering a more luxurious finish.

SoLiD Construction — And What It Means Inside

All Compass caravans from the 2013 relaunch onwards were built using Elddis's proprietary SoLiD construction system — a fully bonded body shell that eliminates the traditional timber frame in favour of panels bonded together under pressure. The system was developed to reduce weight, improve structural rigidity, and prevent the water ingress that had plagued timber-framed touring caravans for decades. Compass and Elddis were the only UK manufacturers to use a fully bonded construction, and every model came with a ten-year body integrity and water ingress warranty.

For mattress replacement purposes, the SoLiD construction means that the interior walls of a Compass caravan are smooth, bonded panels rather than timber-framed structures with visible battens. The bed platforms are integrated into this bonded construction, and the shapes can be more complex than in a traditionally built caravan. Curved walls, angled corners where the body narrows towards the front, and integrated headboard panels all contribute to bed platforms that require a mattress cut to a precise template rather than a simple rectangle.

Bed Types in Compass Caravans

Front lounge make-up beds are the most common sleeping arrangement in Compass touring caravans, particularly in the older models and the two-berth layouts. The front seat cushions are rearranged around the dropped table to form a double bed that spans the full width of the caravan. These beds are typically around 1.12m to 1.44m wide and 1.99m to 2.12m long, but the exact dimensions depend on the model and year. The cushions that form this bed do double duty as seating during the day, and when they wear out they need replacing as a complete set — you cannot replace the bed without replacing the seats.

Fixed island beds were a popular feature in many Casita, Capiro, and Camino models. These are permanent beds mounted across the rear of the caravan, typically with access from both sides. A fixed island bed in a Compass might measure around 1.34m to 1.35m wide and 1.88m to 1.90m long — considerably shorter and narrower than a standard domestic double. The mattress sits on a slatted base or a solid platform and is a dedicated sleeping surface that does not convert to anything else.

Fixed French beds (also called transverse beds) are mounted widthways across the rear of the caravan with access from one side only, pushed against the rear wall. These were common in models like the Casita 860 and various Camino layouts. Dimensions are similar to island beds but the shape may include a cut corner or tapered edge where the bed meets the bathroom partition.

Fixed twin singles at the rear were featured in several Compass layouts, notably the Capiro 574 and Rallye 574. Each single measures approximately 0.69m to 0.77m wide and 1.85m to 1.89m long — significantly narrower and shorter than a standard UK single at 90cm by 190cm.

Bunk beds appeared in the family-oriented models like the Casita 868 and Camino 674. The bunks are typically 0.55m to 0.59m wide and 1.64m to 1.91m long. These are children's sleeping spaces, and the mattresses need to be thin enough to allow safe use with the bunk rails while still providing adequate comfort.

Compass Models We Make Mattresses For

We manufacture replacement mattresses, seat cushions, and backrest cushions for every Compass touring caravan ever produced, from the earliest 1978 models through to the final 2023 production run. The most commonly requested include:

The Casita range (2017–2023) in all layout numbers: 454, 462, 550, 554, 574, 586, 840, 860, and 866/868. The Capiro range (2017–2023): 482, 520, 530, 550, 554, and 574. The Camino range (2017–2023): 550, 554, 644, 650, 660, and 674.

From the 2014–2016 relaunch era: the Corona, Omega, and Rallye in all layout numbers.

From the older pre-2009 ranges: the Rallye, Rallye GTE, Omega, Corona, Connoisseur, Magnum (including Magnum Classic, Magnum Sport, and Magnum Mendip), Shadow, Vantage, Amazon, Rambler, Concerto, Kensington, and every other model in the extensive Compass back catalogue.

If your Compass model is not listed here, we still make mattresses for it. With over 850 individual variants produced across forty-five years, we cannot list them all — but we have yet to encounter a Compass we cannot fit.

Compass and Elddis — The Same Caravan?

Compass and Elddis caravans were built in the same Consett factory using the same SoLiD construction system, the same chassis, and the same structural components. The differences between equivalent models from each brand were largely cosmetic — different upholstery fabrics, different colour schemes, different exterior graphics — and the two ranges were sold through separate dealer networks to avoid direct competition on the same forecourt. From a mattress perspective, a Compass Casita 550 and an Elddis Avante 550 from the same model year will have very similar bed platform dimensions, though not necessarily identical ones. If you own a Compass and cannot find the specific model listed in our range, it is worth checking the equivalent Elddis model — the mattress dimensions may be interchangeable, though we always recommend measuring your own bed platform to be certain.

Motorhomes Too

Compass also manufactured motorhomes under the Avantgarde and Autoquest names, built on Peugeot and Fiat base vehicles at the same Consett factory. The mattress requirements for a Compass motorhome are different again from those in a touring caravan — the bed shapes are dictated by the vehicle body rather than a purpose-built caravan shell, and the over-cab beds, rear lounge conversions, and drop-down beds found in Compass motorhomes all require bespoke mattresses. We make mattresses for every Compass motorhome as well as every touring caravan.

What We Recommend

For fixed beds in Compass touring caravans — island beds, French beds, and twin singles — our CoolPlus™ memory foam mattress is an excellent choice. It provides noticeably better comfort than the factory-fitted mattress while remaining light enough that it will not significantly affect your caravan's payload. For the larger fixed beds in twin-axle models like the Camino 660 or the 8ft-wide Casita 840, the additional sleeping surface makes the upgrade particularly worthwhile.

For front lounge make-up beds, where the mattress also functions as seat cushions during the day, a full set of replacement cushions in our high-resilience reflex foam will restore both the seating comfort and the sleeping surface in one go. Touring caravan seat cushions take a tremendous amount of use — sat on during the day, slept on at night, and subjected to road vibration in transit — and they wear out faster than almost any other soft furnishing in the caravan. If your Compass seats have gone flat or the foam has broken down, a replacement set will transform the interior.

For bunk beds and children's sleeping areas, a thin reflex foam mattress of 7.5cm to 10cm depth provides the right balance of comfort and practicality within the limited headroom of a bunk arrangement.

Every mattress and cushion set we make is cut to your exact measurements in our Birmingham workshop and delivered free to any UK address. Call us on 0121 663 6114 with your measurements, or order online using the product links below. If you need help measuring an awkward bed shape — and Compass beds, with their cut corners and tapered profiles, are some of the most awkward in the business — call us and we will talk you through it.